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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28685388">One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Soren</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narrans/pseuds/Narrans'>Narrans</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>One Shots [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Borrowers - All Media Types, The Littles (Cartoon), The Littles - Fandom, g/t - Fandom, giant/tiny - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abuse, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety, Arguing, Ashlynn - Freeform, Borrowers - Freeform, Brother, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Capture, Captured, Care, Clever, Creativity, Death, Discovered, Discovery, Dorian - Freeform, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fear, Feels, Fights, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, G/T, Giant/Tiny, Hurt/Comfort, Illness, Injury, Little, Littles, Medical, One Shot, Other, Recovery, References to The Borrowers, Rey - Freeform, Short One Shot, Short Story, Sickness, Soren - Freeform, Survival, TINY - Freeform, The Littles, borrower, borrower captured, borrower mousetrap, brady - Freeform, create, cry, deathmention, discover, fight, g/t fluff, giant, gianttiny fluff, giantworld, ill, injured, mouse - Freeform, mousetrap, parole, sick, survive, theborrowers, tinyhuman</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:00:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>43,940</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28685388</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narrans/pseuds/Narrans</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Soren, a borrower, just migrated with his two half brothers and his step-father into a new apartment complex. Though his step-father leads the family, it is his blunder which has forced the family to migrate on the cusp of winter. Soren must fight daily to help his family survive; however, he knows nothing about the occupants of this new building. Who lives here? What innate dangers do these humans possess? And what would they do if Soren or his family were discovered?</p>
<p>This is part of a collection of One Shots involving borrowers and similarly sized folk.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>One Shots [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1881163</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His breath hitched in his throat. The frigid air filled his lungs, constricting them with each gasping breath. He could hear his younger brothers calling out for him. Each beat of his heart seemed to slow, begging him to calm his nerves. The crashing vibrations behind him were growing louder and louder. He had to speed up. He willed his legs to move faster as he darted to the side. The harsh sound of heavy breathing was close enough for him to smell. Just ahead was a hiding place. The roots of a freezing tree offered just enough protection; but could he make it? There was no other option. He pulled out his pin and dove, tumbling through the roots and spun on his heel to jab out. His heart leapt into his throat. A hollow, emptiness swelled in his gut as he came face to face with the gaping maw of a dog. He gripped his pin tight and thrust forward.</p>
<p>Soren woke with a start and sat bolt upright, a cold sweat on his brow. His breath was shallow and rapid. Every nerve in his body sending chills and nervous sparks through his body. As his heart began to calm and stop hammering against his chest, he laid back down and tried to breathe deeply against the constricting feeling in his chest.</p>
<p>It was a dream. It was only a dream – this time at least. Soren’s dream pulled from events just four days ago. Soren could’ve sworn he could still smell the dog’s breath. He glanced at either side, remembering his two younger brothers sound asleep and pressed against him. He hadn’t disturbed them. Their makeshift bed on the dirt and under those few scraps of clothing they managed to bring with them was neither comfortable nor warm. It allowed them to survive, which was enough for now.</p>
<p>Northern winters were harsh and frigid, especially by the northern lakes. This was not a contested point, it was fact. The wind would easily reach below zero. The snow could bury a yard in hours and make any terrain dangerous to traverse. Water would freeze over and become nearly impossible to drink or drill to boil. Wildlife, scarce in certain months, was nearly impossible to hunt and often the stores closed. If someone had a house with heating and water and light and the means to sustain such a life, it wasn’t so bad. No person in their right mind would live outside willingly in such harsh conditions; but, sometimes, it was unavoidable – especially if that person was a borrower.</p>
<p>In a small subdivision filled with a labyrinth of apartments and college town students, a family of four borrowers lay shivering in the cold. It was only late fall, but there was still a dusting of snow on the ground. They were forced to migrate after Brady, their father, thought he was seen. He most likely was seen; at least, that is what Soren guessed.</p>
<p>Neck stiff, Soren tried stretching without disturbing his siblings. A quick glance around told him it was just after dawn and he couldn’t see Brady anywhere nearby. He felt a frozen growl rise in his throat. If he was being honest with himself, Soren resented Brady in a way. Brady was clumsy and careless; it was a miracle he hadn’t been killed or worse, caught. If it weren’t for Soren’s mother, they probably wouldn’t have lasted this long.</p>
<p>Soren shook his head free of his thoughts. He couldn’t think about that now. He had to focus on the move ahead of them. The house they intended to stay in for now was largely unexplored and they were in desperate need of supplies. His brothers were too young, being only seven and eight years old, and Brady was incompetent. Soren would need to handle supply gathering. With a gentle nudge, he began to wake his brothers.</p>
<p>“Soren?” groaned the youngest, Rey, teeth chattering slightly.</p>
<p>“I know, it’s early; but it’s time to wake up,” said Soren. Dorian stirred, pressing himself into the warmth of his eldest brother. Soren maneuvered slightly so he could better peer out of their rooted hiding place when they heard something. It was a soft scraping, and it was getting louder. Soren leaned forward, much to his brothers’ dismay, and pulled his pin from his pack and held it at the ready. The hair on his arms raised. His breath stilled as his heart began to pump harder in his chest.</p>
<p>It was Brady. Even with mixed feelings about him, Soren had to admit he was glad of his return. He said nothing and instead dropped his borrowing bag at the edge of the hole they came through.</p>
<p>“Anything?” asked Soren. Brady shook his head.</p>
<p>“Nothing. Everything is sealed up tight. There’s a whole maze of walls in this place,” muttered Brady, sinking against the wall and pressing his head to the concrete. Rey and Dorian stirred at the sound of their father’s voice and sat up shivering. [Of course.] Thought Soren bitterly. The knot in his gut wouldn’t be satisfied with snow again. Even though his body shuddered uncontrollably for a moment, he managed to push himself onto his feet. His brothers moaned in protest as their primary source of warmth.</p>
<p>“I’m going to see what I can find,” muttered Soren after retrieving the borrowing bag from the ground.</p>
<p>“Don’t be ridiculous. You should save your strength. We should just move onto the next home,” said Brady.</p>
<p>“It’s almost winter Brady. We’ve got to settle long-term here, at least for now. Regardless, we need some supplies. Don’t go anywhere until I get back,” said Soren stiffly before slinging the pack across his body and ducking in-between the walls.</p>
<p>The walls were only slightly warmer than their place by the crawl space. There was a place he could climb from the crawl space to the hall. Step by step, he carefully traversed the wall’s edge until he reached the first floor. From where he stood, he could stare up at the towering expanse above him. Just the sight of something so tall gave him a sense of vertigo. He couldn’t even see the roof of the hall without some sort of light source – and he only had a few matches which he left behind. The bricks and drywall surrounding him did offer some limited light where the electrical outlets connected their world to the world of the humans.</p>
<p>Soren shuddered at the thought of being seen by a human. His mother and father had told him stories of what happened to other borrowers who had encountered humans. The horror stories passed through generations was now uncommon. Whether some of the stories were true was always in debate. Still, it didn’t stop Soren from always been careful and he wasn’t about to stop now.</p>
<p>Just ahead was an outlet into the first floor. Soren took a calming breath before approaching the holes and the wires. Each wire in of itself was nearly as thick as his arm, making the hair on the back of his neck raise. Carefully, he pulled on the screw and unwound it just enough for him to peer inside.</p>
<p>The warmth from the room poured in through the miniscule crack Soren was able to create. He listened in. Nothing. He breathed deeply. There was a thick smell of mothballs and something else. A smell of a thick, scented powder wafted through the air. It was an unmistakable scent of litter. [Cats.] Soren pulled the plate back over and tightened the screw. [I have to remember not to go here.]</p>
<p>Soren jogged to the next few rooms which he soon realized belonged to the same human because of the smell. [We can stay in between these walls here and be unbothered as long as we don’t go into the rooms. It’s much warmer at the very least, even if it does stink.] Soren felt his way along the walls and jogged through the darkness until he reached another break in the walls. [These must divide the larger rooms] thought Soren.</p>
<p>The next five rooms Soren checked turned up unusable since they were completely empty. Soren had dared to go outside of the walls and walk around the chilled rooms. The vast expanse of room seemed endless and empty. It was unnerving and forced Soren to duck back into the confines of the walls. [How can humans live in such a huge space? I know they’re huge, but still…]</p>
<p>There were only a few abandoned spider webs and no signs of mice. Finally, after a long trek through the walls, Soren managed to find what he was looking for – a warm apartment kitchen left unattended. The outlet on the floor came out right beside the kitchen table. The chairs were covered with skirts that hid the legs, which made the perfect hiding place. The kitchen itself was only twenty-seven paces away. The counter, on the other hand, was another issue altogether.</p>
<p>The surface was slick and covered with something called linoleum. Gaining purchase with his hook was going to be nearly impossible without leaving a mark. Soren glanced from side to side. A move this bold wasn’t something he usually partook in, but he was running out of options if he wanted to make sure his family ate today.</p>
<p>Soren stepped out from behind the wall and walked the twenty-seven paces to the edge of the wall next to the kitchen. Empty and no active signs of humans at the moment. The kitchen was small, but there were still two separate counters. One side had the sink while the other had the stove. Based on his experience, bread didn’t do well next to water.</p>
<p>Taking a shaking breath to swell his confidence, Soren darted from his place by the wall toward the stove while swinging his hook as hard as he could toward to top of the oven. Missed. He cursed under his breath and tried again, this time finding his hook catch something metal. [I must’ve snagged the grate of the stove.]</p>
<p>Soren wasted no time and began climbing, his heart pounding as he rose further and further from the ground. Out of breath, he reached the top. He looked around. The place seemed clean and well put together. Soren shook his thoughts away. He couldn’t think about this now. He turned his attention back to the counter in search of something he could grab and shove into his bag quickly. [There!] There was a bread box shoved in the corner by the wall and the counter. More importantly, there was an electrical outlet mere inches away from the box. He’d hit the jackpot.</p>
<p>Soren wrapped up his hook and made quick work of getting into the box, pulling off enough breadcrumbs to be unnoticed. He wanted to take the entire end, but it would have been too much and was bound to be noticed. He had hopes that what he took wouldn’t be noticed as it was, pinching off more than what he usually would.</p>
<p>Soren had just stepped back onto the counter when he heard a loud grinding sound coming from the next room just behind the door. His heart stopped. Every nerve in his body screamed to run. He couldn’t hesitate now, but he had a choice. He could try and shimmy down his line back to the cover he knew would lead him back or he could pull free the electrical cover mere inches from himself. He made his choice.</p>
<p>Climbing now would be too risky and at least he could duck behind the top of the bread box which was just barely taller than the backsplash. Hands trembling, he began frantically unscrewing the cover. It was already loose. There was the sound of a high pitched, shrill sound followed by silence. Soren could guess it was a car coming to a stop. His hands fumbled as he managed to pry the screw loose and began to peel back the faceplate. Nearby, he could hear muffled shouting.</p>
<p>Humans. They were angry by the sound of it. Soren pulled with all his might, accidentally stumbling backwards when the plate came off suddenly. He could see the lock turning. It was now or never. He leapt to his feet, screw in hand, and bolted behind the faceplate cover. He straddled the electrical cords and managed to pull the face plate back into place just as the door opened.</p>
<p>Heart pounding through his ribs, Soren listened as the two humans, who were still shouting at one another, came into the apartment. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but at least he was out of harm’s way – for now at least. There was a small shelf just below his feet which he didn’t see before. Soren imbedded his spare hook into the wood and rappelled down the line and began jogging back to where he had left his brothers and Brady.</p>
<p>It was a close call, but not an unsuccessful venture. His family would eat tonight, and that’s what mattered. As his legs carried him, Soren couldn’t help but think about why the humans were shouting at one another. How could they be angry when they had so much? They had food and shelter, warmth when they wanted. Soren rounded the final corner and dropped down from the ledge into the crawl space. He could feel the temperature difference instantly.</p>
<p>Yes, they would move as Brady requested; but, Brady wasn’t going to be the only one calling the shots anymore.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Soren and the Fierce Feline</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Soren knows winter is coming. His family is settling in, but supplies are still low. He takes a daring risk at the request of his brother to ensure their safety in the walls; but what's waiting on the other side of their safe haven?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was painstaking, but Soren was beginning to feel more secure about his family’s living quarters. He had moved them further into the barren halls between the walls past the rooms that smelled of litter and mothballs, but not as far as the human home he borrowed from. It made him uneasy to live so close to humans who he knew were going to be present. Even if it was a little colder, the halls of the empty rooms were far safer for his two younger brothers to speak freely. He had also managed to secure three days’ worth of food from picking up scraps of bread and a box of slightly stale raisins from behind one of the cabinets.</p><p>It also kept Brady busy. He was so paranoid that the cat would find its way into the passages between the walls that he spent most of his time guarding Soren’s brothers. This left all of the borrowing to Soren; and he was relieved that was the case. Brady’s incompetence had already forced one move, and he didn’t want another blunder so close to winter. It also gave Soren a chance to observe the humans in the other rooms.</p><p>He realized, after only two weeks of observation, that the rooms were sectioned off into things called “apartments.” It explained why the rooms belonged to some humans and not others. Still, it was easy to get turned around in the walls. It was Soren’s youngest brother, Rey, who came up with an idea to help them navigate. Rey suggested using thread to guide the way to different rooms. It would consume a lot of supplies, but using different threads to guide the way to different rooms was the smartest thing to do. As long as they held onto the line, they couldn’t be lost.</p><p>In order to do this, Soren would need thread – and lots of it. Based off of his observations, there was only one place he could go – and he didn’t like it. Soren prepared his bag, his hooks, and his needle. There were two outlets which led into a side room filled with paper scraps, scissors, and, above all, thread. Turns out the smelly cat lady worked with her nimble fingers with the thread to make clothes and crafts.</p><p>It was early in the morning when Soren prepared to set out. His brothers clung to his bag and begged him to take them along.</p><p>“We’ll be good and listen! Won’t we, Rey?” prompted Dorian. His younger brother nodded vigorously.</p><p>“Yes! We’ll be the best! Please let us come with you,” pleaded Rey. Soren smiled and ruffled his brothers’ hair playfully. It was long enough now that it covered the tops of his fingers completely. Unlike himself, his brothers took after his mother, kind and smooth faces round and ever smiling. Their eyes, pale blue and hair a light sandy brown, reminded him every day of the piece he wished he had. Soren took more after his father, Aaron. His features were thinner and flexible. His borrowing kept him strong; deceptively so.</p><p>“Not today bobbins,” he muttered. His brothers’ eyes twinkled at the mention of their mother’s affectionate nickname for them. “You have to stay put and guard the fort you never named.” His playful rebuke was enough to quiet his brothers. With that, he gave a simple salute and headed into the labyrinth of walls before him.</p><p> </p><p>The smell was overwhelming. Soren took a moment and breathed deeply to calm himself, but the stench only put him on edge. He knew he was fast. He knew he was flexible and could out-maneuver anything thrown or swung his way. Still, he didn’t want to test his abilities if he didn’t have to.</p><p>Soren listened carefully, refusing to breathe until he heard some sign of life. If he was right, the elderly human woman would be rustling in the kitchen in an hour or so with the cat begging at her heels. He had maybe two hours before needing to remain absolutely silent and undetected. Barely enough time and entirely risky.</p><p>He pushed the faceplate off of the electrical cords and stepped out into the human world.</p><p>It was always so vast and dizzying, the world of the humans. The tables and chairs towered above his head. The desks and trinkets were massive and often too bulky for a borrower. It took true ingenuity to even maneuver even the smallest of the human’s things for borrowing; but Soren had a clever mother and a determined father. They taught him many tricks, one of which was to find the piece which he and his siblings were called after so affectionately.</p><p>Soren, in a burst of speed, sprinted from the walls to the nearest wooden table. He swung his hook with all his might and watched the line fly from his hands. With a quick flick of his wrist, the hook twitched and lodged itself into the soft wood table. [Lodged on the first try.] Soren didn’t have time to celebrate as he climbed hand over fist until he reached the top of the table. He kept low, resting the entire front of his body on the table from behind the sewing machine. His heart pounded from the sudden burst of energy.</p><p>Just a foot from him rested a sewing box. Soren’s mother told him that it was a common place for humans to keep small supplies for sewing like needles, bobbins, and scraps of thread in the box. His heart stopped pounding and, after taking a breath, he stealthily crept to the box and forced the edges apart. Inside was a plethora of supplies, everything he and his family could use for months. Still, that wasn’t the borrower way. [Don’t take more than what you need.]</p><p>With a reluctant sigh, he pulled out two sewing needles from the strange, circular pack. He pulled out one of the bobbins which was filled with thread and found an empty one under one of the pin cushions. Soren grinned and placed the bobbins in his bag along with a few large buttons and the needles. Soren glanced around, satisfied with his borrowing.</p><p>That’s when he spotted it – a plastic bag filled with mismatched pieces of fabric and half-used thread spools. The scraps were unusable, barely two inches in any direction; at least, unusable for a human. The fabric would undoubtedly make better bedding and help line the floors and walls for insulation. There was an obvious problem. Moving fabric took time. Since the pieces were in a bag, all he would need to do was push the bag to the ground. Humans with pets often blamed their pets for things spilling and making their way under furniture. If he was going to attempt this, Soren would undoubtedly make noise – potentially summoning the cat.</p><p>He would have to be quick. Soren’s heart pounded in his chest. This was stupid. Beyond stupid. This is the sort of thing his parents would box his ears over. Should he wait? Should he abandon the scraps of the humans and the promise of warmth for his siblings? While he crouched by the sewing machine and pondered these things, he heard the soft jingle of a bell – the cat’s bell. He whipped around to see two enormous, fluffy paws cresting over the edge of the table and the tips of two ears in a chair nearby.</p><p>This was his chance.</p><p>Soren snapped his fingers, gaining the cat’s attention. Its ears twitched at the sound. Its nose and eyes peered over the table slowly, menacingly. It had caught scent of its prey. Soren watched the cat’s movements carefully. Soren’s father taught him that animals had their tells, and that a quick sway before a pounce the tell of a cat. Soren kept his body taut and prepared to leap. [Wait… wait… There!] The cat swayed once, twice, and then rapidly. Soren could feel the creature’s breath on his back as he leapt out of the way toward the plastic bag filled with scraps and thread.</p><p>He tumbled out of the way and was on his feet in a second. He grabbed the edge of the bag and rustled it.</p><p>“Come and get it fluffy,” he growled. The cat growled right back and swiped at him with its paws, but he was ready. The cat’s paw slashed at the bag, ripping it slightly. Several spools of thread began to slip from the holes. Soren didn’t have a moment to lose. He threw himself against the bag as the cat backed up and pounced again, this time tipping the bag onto the very edge.</p><p>With the cat’s back turned, Soren darted across the table to his rappel line. He knew the rope burn against his palms was going to hurt, but it was going to be alright. He seized the line and threw himself off of the table. The cat, in a spasm and flurry of movement, spun and kicked toward the young borrower. As it did, its back legs sent the bag flying off of the edge of the table and onto the ground.</p><p>Soren’s hand stung and burned as he reached the bottom. He couldn’t hold back now. He dared not hold back now. Soren pulled his hook free with a rapid thrash of his arm before he sprinted for his life toward the wall. He could sense the cat’s eyes searching for him, but he could sense something else. Tremors. Shuffling tremors. He knew what this had to be.</p><p>“Jaida? What are you doing in here Jaida?” the human’s booming voice, even elderly, sent chills up Soren’s spine. He forced his thoughts out of his head and threw himself into his instincts. He was now only inches away from the entrance into the walls. He dove, miraculously missing his head against the far wall. He whipped around and pulled the cover behind him just as he saw an illuminated eye peer at him, seething and hissing viciously.</p><p>“Now Jaida, you’ve gone and made a mess. Come along.” Soren listened as the cat growled in its master’s arms as the elderly lady shuffled away to put the cat in another room. Soren wanted to rest. He wanted to recover and sit for an age; but he couldn’t do that now.</p><p>Soren forced himself to his feet and peered out of the hole once again. He spotted the old lady and the cat leaving the room as she closed the door behind her. Soren could have sworn the cat made eye contact with him in a deep seeded hatred.</p><p>With the door closed, Soren slid back outside of the wall cover and to the bag of cloth scraps and thread. It took nearly thirty minutes, but Soren managed to pull out the necessary fabric and thread and pull them back behind the walls. Soren knew it was probably too much, but the lady was older and most likely forgetful. Soren had been told that older humans were often forgetful.</p><p>After his encounter, Soren took a moment on his pile of fabric. It was too close. Far too close. Soren couldn’t believe he had allowed himself to risk his life for some scraps of fabric. He laid back and stretched against the cloth. [It was soft, almost unbelievably so. Perhaps… for fabric this soft… it was worth it.]</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | A Brother's First Glimpse</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Soren, after his encounter with the cat, returns back to his family's camp, but he has to return to retrieve the remaining fabric scraps. His brothers come along to help and receive their first glimpse into the human world.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Soren rested for nearly ten minutes before electing to get up and begin transporting the fabric scraps back to his family. He started with one of the heavier pieces, a soft, thick maroon fabric, and began the trek back. He rolled it up and placed it on his back. The path had become more familiar with time, but Soren knew he had to keep his head up if he didn’t want to get lost. After all, he hadn’t implemented Rey’s plan yet.</p><p>While he walked, Soren had a moment to think. If he remembered correctly, Brady had said he was going to make sure the cat couldn’t roam the halls; yet, Soren didn’t remember seeing him on his way to the apartment. This was a bad sign. Brady should have been either near the entrance Soren created or somewhere along the hallway.</p><p>Soren shook his thoughts from his head. Brady wasn’t brave enough to go out into the room on his own without backup. If Brady had gone out, he would have left the cover off or some other blunder obvious for even a human to notice.</p><p>“Soren!” The sudden, jubilant cry of his youngest brother, Rey, was enough to send his heart into a rapid shock which just as quickly dissipated. He could see his brothers’ round, smiling faces peering out from around the final corner. Soren had set very specific rules to make sure his brothers didn’t wander off. One of those rules were boundaries as to how far his brothers could actually travel from their cots; and they were almost at the edge.</p><p>Soren smiled but stared at them warningly. They knew better than to go beyond where they were told unless it was an emergency.</p><p>“Hey bobbins,” he said thoughtfully. “Look what I borrowed.” Soren tugged at the fabric on his back. Their eyes widened in wonder as they stood at the edge of the wall bouncing back and forth on their toes, eager to see what their brother had brought home.</p><p>“Ohhh! Wow brother! You’re the best! It’s so soft,” said Dorian in awe as he reached out and touched the fabric, squishing it between his fingers.</p><p>“Yeah!” Rey agreed while mimicking his brother’s movements.</p><p>“Okay, okay. Let’s bring it over to the pile,” Soren instructed. The youngest eagerly obeyed and took an armful of fabric, not caring part of it dragged the ground, and carried it to their supply pile. The middle child did the same. After they successfully carried the maroon cloth to their supply pile, Soren pointed back down the corridor.</p><p>“Hey, you two didn’t see Bra…er… your dad, did you?” asked Soren. The youngest two exchanged quick glances with one another before shaking their heads.</p><p>“No, he left this morning and said he was going to stand guard,” replied Dorian. “Why?” Soren, in a split second, made the decision to not worry them, but also to tell the truth.</p><p>“No reason,” muttered Soren. “I didn’t see him in the corridor and thought he might’ve gone back. He’s probably just further down and I didn’t see him.” A flicker of worry sparked in the boys’ eyes, but they trusted Soren and his instincts.</p><p>“Anyway,” continued Soren. “I need to get back. There’s more cloth than what I brought back and some special thread for navigation.” Rey’s eyes twinkled.</p><p>“You mean you’re going to use my idea?” he asked eagerly.</p><p>“Sure thing bobbin,” replied Soren. “Hey, do you two want to come with me and help bring back some borrowings?” The brothers’ leaped into the air cheering. They had never been borrowing before and this would be the first time, even if it was just gathering supplies with their brother.</p><p>Before they left their camp, Soren made them promise to listen to every command he gave regardless of how they felt and to be especially careful near the entrances. His brothers only had glimpses of the human world and possessed little knowledge about how to actually borrow – something Soren was slightly ashamed of. He knew he was young at the time, but Soren’s father, Aaron, and his mother, Emma Lee, had taken Soren out borrowing for the first time when he was Rey’s age. It was a risk, but Soren was glad he had the knowledge to protect himself and provide for his brothers.</p><p>His brothers agreed instantly and sprung at his heels like summer crickets. They were excited and nervous, two things Soren hoped would keep them on their toes. He followed the passages, ensuring his brothers memorized the way, before reaching the outlet. Dorian and Rey had been whispering excitedly up until this point. Now that the electrical cover was ahead, they seemed less certain, their steps faltering as they clung closer to one another.</p><p>Soren, seeing this, gave a reassuring smile. “It’s okay to be nervous and scared, but you can’t let that get to you. It’s that gut reaction that helps you make quick decisions. Turn your nerves into strengths.” The pair of twinkling, pale blue eyes blinked several times as they approached their eldest brother. They spotted the fabric a few feet away in the dust and plaster filled hallways and, in their moment of bravery, trotted up past their brother, being as quiet as they could, and began rolling up the fabric.</p><p>Soren watched, a smile curled on his lip, before glancing at the wall cover. [They’ll have to learn sooner or later. What if I didn’t take them out and just let them peer through? They’re young, almost too young, but… if something happened to me…] Soren could still see the jaws of the cat bared at him and feel its hot breath near his neck. He shuddered and shrugged it off. [They won’t be able to rely on Brady for any useful training. Guess that’s my job.] It was decided.</p><p>“Hey, do either of you want to take a peek into the apartment?” he asked. The brothers, who were quiet efficient at rolling up cloth, snapped their gaze from their current task to look at their brother, eyes wide with excitement but also hesitation.</p><p>“Yeah!” exclaimed Dorian, who Soren quickly gestured to lower his volume. “Oh, sorry.”</p><p>“Remember, we have to be quiet in the walls. In camp, we can talk normally. Here, we have to be a little more careful,” reminded Soren. Dorian nodded eagerly and was on his feet in an instant.</p><p>“I will. I’ll be the most careful! I’m ready.”</p><p>Rey, on the other hand, seemed less certain. He twiddled his fingers the way their mother used to when she was thinking hard about a problem, before nodding hesitantly. “I wanna see too.” Soren nodded once and approached the outlet.</p><p>“Now, what’s the most important thing right now?” he asked. An impromptu quiz never hurt him.</p><p>“Don’t be seen and don’t get caught. If that happens, don’t say anything no matter what,” answered Dorian with little hesitation. Rey, befuddled by the question, simply nodded an agreement.</p><p>“Those are all important, but that’s not completely the right answer,” stated Soren. “The most important thing right now is to check and make sure without a doubt that the room is clear of humans and animals. It’s kind of hard to see, so you have to listen.” The brothers watched as Soren pressed his ear against the cover and propped it open slightly. They held their breath and listened.</p><p>“What do you hear?” asked Soren. The brothers didn’t have a clear answer, nor did they have a guess. To them, it seemed quiet in the room. “You don’t hear the lady’s shows? You don’t hear her shuffling slippers in the other room? You don’t hear her cat pawing at the door?” Each prompt Soren gave seemed to make the sounds that much clearer. The brothers nodded.</p><p>“You heard all that the first try?” asked Rey. Soren’s lips tugged into a cocky grin.</p><p>“I’ve had a lot more practice than you little bobbins. Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it. For now, I can tell you there’s nothing in the room, but the old human will probably be back soon to clean up the mess her cat made when it was…” Soren hesitated, not wanting to tell his brothers about his close encounter with the cat. “Playing on the desk.”</p><p>Soren unscrewed the cover and pressed it open just enough to step out into the human world. Before he did, he paused and took a deep breath. He stepped out over the threshold of the wall and onto the ground. He motioned for his siblings to stay back. Soren didn’t doubt his senses, but he wanted to ensure his brothers’ first steps outside the wall were safe. He checked on one side and then the other. He stayed crouched and low. When he saw the coast was clear, he motioned them forward.</p><p>Dorian stepped out first, checking from side to side just as Soren did. Rey followed close behind, slightly clumsier though. Their eyes widened as they stared up at the vastness of the human world. Everything enlarged and out of reach. Soren could see they were beginning to get overwhelmed. Reassuringly, he reached out and grasped both of their shoulders.</p><p>“I get it’s overwhelming,” said Soren, keeping his voice low. “But you’ll get used to it in time. I’m still getting used to it honestly.” The smile on his face did reassure his brothers. The moment reminded Soren of when he finished his first borrowing trip and the look on his parents’ faces. The nostalgia was momentary, but much needed. It also reminded Soren that, sooner or later, his brothers would need to start their training – and that he was already behind.</p><p>They elected not to walk around the room, much to Dorian’s dismay, and proceeded back into the walls. They collected the fabric and, after a few trips, managed to bring everything back to their camp.</p><p>While his brothers organized the fabric and picked some out for themselves and their beds, Soren began constructing training regiments for his brothers. He couldn’t call himself a decent older brother if he couldn’t prepare his younger brothers to survive in a world full of humans.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Disagreements and Risk</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>For the first time, Soren discusses training his younger brothers with their father, Brady. After a brief argument and a tough decision, Soren sets out once again before the day is out. While borrowing for the second time in one day, he overhears a human discussion and makes another risky decision. How many times can he spend his luck before something happens?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Brady returned a few hours after Soren, Dorian, and Rey brought the fabric and thread back to their camp; and they managed to accomplish a lot even with their limited resources.</p><p>Rey and Dorian now had padded bedding three cloth pieces deep. Dorian demonstrated his cleverness by folding one piece of fabric into thirds rather than spreading out three separate cloth pieces. This allowed their beds to be close but separate, which was a good thing. Rey was known to “borrow” covers in his sleep.</p><p>They also managed to set up a tent-like overhang over their beds to help capture heat. This idea was Soren’s since he had more experience constructing tents.</p><p>When Brady returned empty handed, Soren couldn’t bite back his groan. His utterance earned him a spiteful glance from Brady. “What was that about?” he asked shortly. Soren glanced toward his brothers who were currently holding a race to see who could fold blankets and pack the essentials fastest.</p><p>“You’ve been gone for hours and you didn’t manage to find anything useful,” muttered Soren under his breath. Brady huffed and began heading for the beds. “Wait a second. I’ve got something I want to talk to you about.”</p><p>Brady stopped, folded his arms across his chest, and turned to face Soren half-heartedly. “What’s that?” Soren cleared his throat and gestured for them to take a few steps away. Soren’s mind was racing, but he knew he had to bring it up – his brothers needed proper borrower training, and soon. Once they stepped away, Soren began.</p><p>“I’ve been thinking it over and I think it’s way past time we show Dorian and Rey how to start borrowing.” Like a band-aid, Soren blurted out the main objective. Brady stiffened instantly. He had never liked borrowing, which showed by his lack of effort and his complete lack of competence.</p><p>“Out of the question,” snapped Brady. “They’re far too young and we don’t know enough about this place.” [We’d know more if you would do something and contribute to the family.] Soren forced his thoughts to remain in his head. Instead, he took a calming breath through gritted teeth and stared at Brady.</p><p>“Look, I know we don’t agree on everything, hardly anything in fact; but they need this,” stated Soren. “If something were to happen to one or either of us, who would they turn to. They don’t even know the basics.” Brady growled, shoulders hunched and posture tightening.</p><p>“I feel like I already know some of the basics of this place. There are two entire apartments which aren’t being used by any humans. They can work on speed and strength, climbing and maneuvers. We can tell them all day about what they need to know and understand, but that’s no substitute for hands-on practice; and that’s what they need.”</p><p>“And what happens if and when humans fill those apartments? Where will they practice then?” demanded Brady.</p><p>“Then we’ll stay in the walls and practice or, better yet, take advantage of the havoc humans go through when relocating and borrow necessary building materials. These are fundamentals, Brady!”</p><p>“Don’t you raise your voice at me Soren. I’m older and more experienced. I’ve seen things…” Brady’s voice trailed off. Soren opened his mouth to argue back, but noticed a messy mop of light, sandy brown hair duck behind the corner. He pinched himself hard and held back.</p><p>“I don’t doubt that,” he said, keeping his voice measured. “Still, Dorian and Rey are what this is about. I’m looking out for my brothers and we’re doing them no favors by keeping them in the walls. They’ll have to learn one day, and now seems like the safest time.”</p><p>“So what? You’re asking my permission?” Soren had had enough.</p><p>“Not really,” he said quietly. “I’m just telling you what I’m planning and what I’m going to do. Join us if you get the chance.” [You might learn something.] Soren walked back around the corner toward their camp before Brady could respond. Their conversation hadn’t gone as smoothly as Soren would have liked, but at least he was able to say his piece.</p><p>When he returned, Dorian and Rey were huddled on their beds, legs crossed. They looked nervous. The sight made Soren’s heart sink. [They heard me arguing with their dad. Great.]</p><p>“Is… everything okay?” asked Rey, his soft, sweet voice barely carrying past their tent project. Soren tugged his lips into a partial grin, though it was more for reassurance than how he was actually feeling.</p><p>“Everything is fine. Your dad and I had a difference of opinion.” Soren remembered his mother had used this phrase when talking with Brady countless times. “We were talking about something important.”</p><p>“What’s that?” asked Dorian. Soren sighed before looking his brothers in the eye.</p><p>“Your borrowing training. It starts today.” The young boys’ eyes widened, each for a different reason. Dorian, excited, leapt out of the bed and cheered.</p><p>“No way! We’re going to get out and borrow stuff? That’s wicked awesome!”</p><p>Rey, on the other hand, seemed to shrink into himself a little more. He was excited, but also hesitant. Rey didn’t say anything, but Soren could tell the experience of seeing the outside world a few hours earlier was more scary than exciting than he let on initially.</p><p>“Since I have to go out again for food supplies, you can start with some simple exercises like pushups and leg bends. We’ll go over some of the basics tonight when I get back and start first thing in the morning. Sound good?”</p><p>“Awww!” whined Dorian. “Can’t we come with you? We can stay in the walls while you go out.” Soren chuckled.</p><p>“Not today bobbin. I have a long list of things I need to get. Anyway, you two have a task. See how many pushups and leg bends you can do until I get back, okay?” Soren smiled confidently at his brothers once they nodded an acknowledgment before standing and heading for his supply bag once more.</p><p>“Soren!” called Rey, stopping his brother in his tracks. “Be careful.” Soren nodded and gave a quick, two fingered salute before slinging his bag onto his back, securing his hook, and darting into the darkness of the halls.</p><p>~~~~~~</p><p>Soren hated leaving his brothers, especially after they witnessed a disagreement; but it couldn’t be helped. Soren was confident they had supplies for the next two days; but for a family of four, it wasn’t reassuring. He had already caused too much ruckus in the older human’s apartment, meaning there was only one other place he knew he could go. Unfortunately, he suspected they were home.</p><p>The two humans, a man and woman, had sporadic schedules at best. The only upside was that they were often arguing or shouting at one another. Soren hated to think about what would happen if they turned their anger toward their unexpected house guests in the walls, but he was grateful too. If they were concerned with one another, they were distracted and less likely to find him.</p><p>Soren jogged to the line he left by the bread box. Instantly, he knew they were home. They were shouting again. Soren felt his heart racing, nerves tingling with unease. The humans sounded louder than usual. He shook his thoughts from his head and tugged on the line, making sure it was secure. Then, he started to climb.</p><p>He used his legs to secure the line and his hand to steady himself as he inched his way up the thread. All the while, he could hear more arguing and several loud thuds – dangerously close thuds. Soren hoisted his leg over the rim of the board and laid against the board. The electrical cover was just in front of him. He could hear the humans much clearer now.</p><p>“What do you mean, ‘it just happened’?!” The woman shouted.</p><p>“Like I said, it was an accident,” replied the man angrily.</p><p>“You don’t just fall over on top of someone and have everything after be ‘an accident’.” Soren didn’t understand humans as much as he would have liked, but he didn’t need to understand humans to suspect what had happened. The woman continued. “And you went out last night.”</p><p>“I didn’t think I was under house arrest,” retorted the man.</p><p>“No, you’re not; but I know you didn’t just go to the shop down the street. You went out with <em>them </em>again, didn’t you?”</p><p>“Don’t start with me.”</p><p>“You know what’ll happen and you choose to do the same thing over and over!”</p><p>Soren remained huddled next to the wall cover and listened for the next ten minutes. It sounded like they were close to the kitchen. If Soren was right, the man would grab the keys and leave while the woman would huff off to another room. Sure enough, the man grabbed the keys and left the kitchen while the woman stormed off. Soren waited until he heard the grinding, whirring gears of the door machine and the roar of the car speeding away. Soren waited another minute before pressing his ear directly against the electrical cover.</p><p>He concentrated his listening until he was satisfied with the amount of silence. With fleet fingers, he unscrewed his entrance and stepped out onto the counter. He checked the counter quickly before ducking into the bread box. He couldn’t stay long. There was some bread in the back that had been crushed slightly by a new loaf. Perfect. There was little chance they’d notice a crumpled piece of bread going missing.</p><p>Soren opened the bag and compressed the wrinkled slice into his bag. It wasn’t pretty, but an entire end half could last a few days. Soren resealed the bag as best as he could before surveying the counter again. His heart was still pounding, but he kept his breathing even. Soren was about to dart toward the cover when he noticed something on the counter past the stove. His eyes widened.</p><p>Fresh fruit, an entire bowl, was sitting on the counter. Soren bit his lower lip. Did he press his luck once again? He already had a close encounter with the cat. He knew the human was still in the apartment. He was fully aware the other human could return any minute. Yet, Soren knew he could grab the first berry he could and make it back to the wall in no time. Before his mind could convince him otherwise, he charged out into the open. He threw the bag onto the counter near the entrance and leapt from the counter onto the stove and onto the other side. It wasn’t a large jump, but it was wide enough to get his ankle caught if he wasn’t paying attention.</p><p>Soren wrapped his arms around the first piece he could carry safely, a bright red strawberry, before turning on his heel and darting back. He kept himself low. His chest hurt with every beat. Still, he managed to slip unseen into the wall with berry and bag in tow; and just in time too. Just as his trembling fingers pulled the cover back behind him, the whirring of the mechanical gears and the car came rolling up.</p><p>Not as close as the cat, but still risky. Soren made a note to never teach his brothers to take so many risks. He sat against the wood to catch his breath as he listened to the jingle of keys and the human entering the apartment.</p><p>He dared not witness another argument. Using his hook, he lowered his bag and the berry to the ground before slipping over the edge and rappelling down safely to the ground. Soren rolled his shoulders once he was securely on the ground once again. He had been lucky twice in one day. Despite this, he scolded himself. [Keep spending your luck like this and you won’t have any if you really need it. You need to set a better example for your brothers, and that won’t happen if you don’t exercise the right precautions.]</p><p>Soren slung his bag and the berry onto his back. [Be more careful from now on. Dad was always careful – I need to be too.] The walk back always seemed shorter and soon Soren was back at camp. The scolding he gave himself as he walked seemed less important when he watched the way his brothers’ eyes lit up at seeing him. The risk was worth seeing their bright eyes widen, sweetened naturally by the fresh fruit.</p><p>They had their fill, ensuring the rest was secured off of the ground and away from the walls as they curled up for bed. The fabric Soren retrieved was warm and soft, leaving all of them to a blissful sleep – necessary rest for the training ahead of them in the morning. </p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Training Recap</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It has been only a month and Soren has spent countless hours training his younger brothers, Dorian and Rey. He has focused on their physical abilities, but knows this is only the first step to making them efficient borrowers.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Aaaaaannndd made it!” panted Dorian as he hit the back of the wall. His chest heaved as he tried bringing in more air than his little lungs would allow. Rey followed nearly ten seconds later, his comparatively shorter legs pushing as hard as they could against the ground as the leapt through the wall cover. He collapsed on the ground, laying his arms above his head.</p><p>Soren just had Rey and Dorian run sprints yet again. It was the fifth time today of a dead sprint from the empty bedroom closet to the wall socket into the walls. It had been nearly a month of vigorous training and, thankfully, the younger brothers were showing improvement in their physical capabilities. Still, Soren hadn’t taken them outside an occupied apartment during that month. Their fascination with the large rooms seemed less intense because of the lack of human objects. Soren was sure, however, that his brothers would become distracted with the immenseness of the human world.</p><p>His brothers, much to Soren’s displeasure, possessed many of their father’s physical attributes when it came to speed and flexibility. They possessed quick bursts of speed but couldn’t maintain that speed over longer distances like the length of a single room. They could tumble and climb, but they could only tuck and pull so far before reaching their natural limits. Granted, they were young and could be trained; however, it was going to take even more time than Soren wanted.</p><p>A lot had happened in a month. Since then, Soren proposed they move a little further in and higher up to prevent mice from having immediate access to them and their food. They had a run-in with mice recently; and Soren had to fight them off. He managed to kill two of them while the others scampered away into the walls.</p><p>Soren hated to do it, but it was because of the mice that they lost some of their valuable food storage. The rodents had chewed through one of the pieces of insulation and right into their home. It had been total chaos since they were all asleep at the time of the attack. Soren made sure they didn’t suffer and, in a way, felt akin to them. Humans, after all, saw them and mice as equals.</p><p>On the brighter side, they managed to cook most of the meat over one of their remaining candles. Soren even managed to dry and tan the mouse hides, turning it into a shoulder cover with a hood so that even if they were seen, many people would just suspect they had mice running around the halls. He wanted to obtain a few more just in case, but so far two was enough.</p><p>He shook his thoughts away and smiled broadly at his brothers. He couldn’t think about these things now. He had to focus on training his brothers.</p><p>“You both did great!” His complement was sincere. Considering they had only been training officially for a month, their endurance and flexibility were already improving. Soren knelt and ruffled his brothers’ hair. They beamed their youthful smiles at him.</p><p>“Thanks Soren,” puffed Rey in between breaths. Soren stood and stretched. His brothers, after a moment, mimicked the motion. They had been told multiple times that stretching was important for flexibility and keeping soreness down. Dorian rolled his shoulders and brought his arm across his chest in a stretch.</p><p>“How fast can you run the whole room Soren?” asked Dorian. Soren glanced out of the wall cover and across the vast empty room. It wasn’t a very large room. By his estimate, it was probably fifteen feet or so one way. He thought about it for a moment, not quite knowing the answer, before the corner of his lips turned into a quirky grin.</p><p>“You want to see how fast I can run from here to the other wall?” he asked. Rey and Dorian leaned forward eagerly.</p><p>“Yeah!” They said simultaneously. Soren pulled the cover aside to clear his path and stood at the ready. Dorian and Rey stared at him confused for a moment.</p><p>“Aren’t you going to take off your bag and pin?” asked Dorian. “I mean, they’ll slow you down, won’t they?” Soren, still hyper focused on his destination on the opposite side of the room, nodded slightly.</p><p>“Yes, they will probably slow me down; but, I have to take that into consideration. If I’m out borrowing, my bag is going to be heavier. I still have to be quick and flexible to weave and dodge if I need to. There are only a few times when you won’t have your borrowing bag with you,” responded Soren.</p><p>Rey and Dorian exchanged glances, seeming both excited and determined, as Dorian raised his hand. “On your mark, get set, GO!”</p><p>Soren dashed for the wall cover, taking the extra moment to vault over the entrance and began his sprint. Pounding step after step, he willed his feet to fly as fast as they could. His feet barely touched the ground before springing him forward again. His nerves, ablaze with adrenaline, let him push past the subtle ache in his thighs.</p><p>He managed to make it more than half-way across the room before needing to breath deeper. His lungs were starting to burn with each breath. Soren imagined he couldn’t think about these things if he were actually being chased by a human. He slammed against the wall before pivoting and sprinting back the other way.</p><p>His legs began to protest as the burning in his lungs intensified. Soren tried to time his breathing as he ran, easing the pressure in his chest. His heart pounded against his ribs. He imagined a human opening the door behind him, closing in on him and reaching out to wrap their grimy fingers around his body. The thought was crippling and enough to make his heart skip a beat, but also enough to give him a final boost of speed to leap over the electrical cover threshold in a forward roll to safety.</p><p>Out of breath and on the ground, Soren forced himself to complete the task by leaping to his feet and pulling the electrical cover back over the hole. He secured it before breathing a sigh of relief. He placed his hands over his head as he sucked in the cool wall air.</p><p>Dorian and Rey cheered, clapping and jumping at their brother’s astounding speed.</p><p>“Wow Soren! You’re so fast!” said Dorian in awe.</p><p>“Yeah, you’re super fast!” chimed in Rey. Soren smiled weakly and waited for his heart to stop racing before speaking.</p><p>“You have to be if you’re going to be out in the human world; but, you also have to be quiet and stealthy. We’ll have to work on that tomorrow. For now, let’s take a break back at camp and get something to eat.” The brothers walked side by side back through the walls toward camp.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Mission Prep</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After training, the brothers share lunch and Soren makes the decision of preparing his brothers for their first borrowing trip. He scouts ahead to ensure success and a positive encounter with borrowing. What will he find in the newly occupied apartment?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They ate lunch in relative silence while they reflected on their training. Soren could think of a million things his brothers still needed to learn. So far, they focused on physical training. They had learned how to climb a rope, albeit not very quickly, and had learned the essentials about tool maintenance.</p><p>Soren showed them the different tools such as the braided thread on his belt and the fishhook his own father had given him. He showed them how to braid the rope so it wouldn’t hurt their hands and how to climb using their legs instead of their arms. Soren, on their rest days, had also let them sew their own borrowing bag.</p><p>It had only been a month since their training began, but Soren felt confident they had what it took to go out with him on a very simple run.</p><p>Soren didn’t want to take them to the older human woman’s apartment. The cat was on the prowl and this mission should be set up for success. The apartment with the arguing humans wouldn’t do either. Their schedules had become more sporadic and Soren heard other humans in the apartment just two night ago. He didn’t know who they were and didn’t know if they left. The apartment they were training in was empty, leaving only one option.</p><p>Before, two apartments were available. Now, only one stood vacant. A new human, a young man probably around Soren’s age, had just moved into the apartment near the older woman. His apartment was a disaster at best, which meant there were plenty of boxes to hide around and a plethora of knick-knacks to borrow. It seemed like he was out most of the time and was asleep during the day.</p><p>Soren wanted to double check, but he was certain that tonight around dusk when the human left for work. Soren was finally prepared mentally on how he would address his proposal. “I know you’re tired after today, but,” Soren paused to catch their expressions before continuing. Their eyes gleamed with curiosity and weariness. “What do you think about going on your first borrowing trip tonight?” Dorian’s face brightened instantly, his wide, toothy grin spreading from ear to ear. Rey seemed nervous but determined.</p><p>“You mean it?” They asked in unison, their tones differing slightly.</p><p>“If you feel up to it,” replied Soren. “It won’t be anything too crazy. We’ll take a look and see if there are any odds and ends we need like needles, pins, and nails. If we have time, maybe we can see the kitchen.”</p><p>“No way! Our first borrowing trip!” Dorian was beside himself, leaping to his feet and nearly tipping over Rey’s water cap. The sight brought a thoughtful chuckle out of Soren.</p><p>“Easy now. I’m going to check out the area first to make sure tonight is a good night. In the meantime, finish your food and lay down to rest. We won’t be able to do anything until later, which means you need some sleep,” reminded Soren. “I’m going to go ahead and check it out. Get some sleep.”</p><p>Soren stood and gathered his things. He checked his belongings: hook, thread, tape, pin, mouse cover, bandage cloth. He was just on his way out when Brady came out from around the corner. He was carrying an empty borrowing bag, which wasn’t much of a surprise. Brady tore off a piece of bread and sat nearby. Soren didn’t bother asking where Brady had gone off to; he never answered anyway.</p><p>Soren jogged down the passages, listening carefully to the walls. It was afternoon in the human world, meaning the apartments they lived in between were still occupied. The older human was watching her shows. The angry couple was unpredictable, but the woman was usually in the apartment every third day. Thankfully, everything was quiet; almost eerily so.</p><p>The dust between the halls clung to the electrical cords and rested against the wooden baseboards. Soren’s eyes adjusted to the minimal light available as he wound his way to the newly occupied apartment. He passed up one passage, then the next. There was a sharp turn where he had to squeeze through two narrow boards to reach the next apartment. The latch he set in place on the ground wall socket was just ahead.</p><p>He breathed in deeply and sensed nothing. No sounds of the television. No rumbling footsteps. No pets. No human. Soren pulled the latch free and cracked it slightly, slipping out and crouching. This outlet, unlike others, came out next to the refrigerator. He closed his exit just enough so the human wouldn’t notice at first glance before crouching and inspecting under the fridge.</p><p>It was a disaster. There were dust clumps and a few slick spots which were haphazardly wiped clean. Soren kept his side close to the human utility while crouching. The edge of the counter was just in sight. His heart pounded in his chest, but he managed to steady his breathing to keep his head clear. Soren got down on all fours, mouse hood pulled up, and looked out into the kitchen.</p><p>The tile under the fridge was just as untidy as the floor in the main rooms. Evidently, this human was not very clean which could work in one of two ways. One being the human didn’t notice anything missing or askew. The complete opposite was possible. Sometimes humans organized their mess in different ways and were very aware when something minor changed. If Soren was correct, they would be safe for the time being.</p><p>He spun around the corner to the lip under the floor cabinets and ran in the shadows until he could look into the main room. It was then that his heart stopped. He felt his breath hitch and limbs grow extremely heavy and yet nonexistent at the same time.</p><p>There was the human. From where he was crouched, Soren could see the human was sprawled out to their full height on what the humans called a couch. It seemed like the human was asleep, but Soren didn’t want to leave anything to chance. He felt his limbs shaking, both in a sudden shock and in anticipation. Every nerve waited for his command.</p><p>He would check later and see if the human was still there. If they didn’t wake up and leave, there was no way he would take his brothers borrowing tonight. Soren turned on his heel and began to make his way back when he heard the shrill beeping of an alarm. Instinctually, he turned to see the human stir, lazily reaching a gargantuan arm toward a phone which rested on the ground a few feet away. Soren couldn’t waist any time. Heart pounding in his chest, he kept to the shadows and sprinted back for the electrical cover behind the fridge. The sound of heavy-set footsteps began to shake the ground, but not before Soren skidded around the corner to safety.</p><p>Soren closed the cover behind him and breathed a sigh of relief. The human was awake now but would be getting ready to leave shortly. The timing was going to work well. He made his way back to the camp to find his brothers fast asleep in their beds, their borrowing bags clutched in their hands. Soren couldn’t help but think about how small his brothers looked in that moment; how young and unspoiled they were about the troubles of borrowing. Rey reached up and rubbed his face, yawning in his sleep, before curling into a tighter ball on top of his blankets.</p><p>Soren sighed. [We could postpone until tomorrow. Dorian would be disappointed, but they worked really hard today.] He stepped over to his bed, pulled off his top blanket, and draped it over the sleeping forms of his brothers. Stifling his own yawn, he took off his borrowing bag and the mouse pelt from his shoulders before sitting on his bed. [Perhaps resting my eyes for a moment wouldn’t be the worst thing.] Soren thought to himself as he stretched onto his bed and sank into a peaceful sleep.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Beyond the Cover of the Wall</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Soren braves the human world once again, but this time with his two younger brothers. What will they find on their first borrowing trip? More importantly, will they manage to evade the human?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Soren woke a few hours later from a dreamless slumber. His eyes, slightly hazy, focused with more clarity with each blink. His brothers were still sound asleep, breathing peacefully in their beds. Soren rolled over onto his back and stretched. He could feel every muscle in his body constrict and release as he arched his back and pulled his arms down from over his head. He sat up and glanced around. No sign of Brady. [Typical.]</p><p>Soren stood and grasped his brothers’ shoulders, giving them a gentle shake awake. “Hey bobbins. Time to get up,” he said gently. Rey and Dorian both moaned and tried rolling over further into the covers, but Soren had seen this before and it wasn’t going to work.</p><p>Doing the only thing he knew how to do, he walked to the side of the bed and deliberately, but gently, fell forward onto his brothers. He caught himself with his arms before completely smothering them. They cried out in surprise, which was followed immediately by reluctant moans and smiles.</p><p>“No Soren!” Rey muttered sleepily. “Just a little longer.” Soren grabbed the top of the blankets and rolled, pulling them off of his brothers while simultaneously rolling himself in the blanket.</p><p>“Nooooo!” Dorian curled in tighter to himself, laughing at the sight of his brother rolled up in the blanket. “It’s cold!” Soren untangled himself from the blankets and tugged at his brothers’ ankles.</p><p>“None of that. We’ve got important work to do, remember? We’ll stretch and get going. You want to still want to go borrowing tonight, don’t you?” Soren’s request was met with a charged silence. It was obvious they wanted to go while also maintaining the warmth of their beds. They yielded and sat up, stretching as big as they could before putting on their shoes and stretching. Soren guided them through each stretch until he was satisfied they were limber enough for their trip. They grabbed their borrowing bags and headed off into the walls, but not before Soren took the two mice pelts and wrapped his brothers in them.</p><p>Going out was dangerous and being seen was even more so. It was a precaution to ensure the secrecy of the borrowers. If they were spotted, which was entirely unlikely, hopefully the human would simply think they had mice. Soren reminded himself he needed to teach them about mousetraps and how to get around them.</p><p>Soren nodded reassuringly before leading the way into the labyrinth of walls before them. Rey smiled nervously back while Dorian beamed with determination. Soren couldn’t help but, in this moment, remember his first time outside the walls with his father.</p><p>A stiff silence followed them as Soren guided them through the walls. There was an anticipation and nervousness clinging to them which every step intensified. Soren felt a hollowness pumping in the center of his heart as if to remind him that his brothers were relying on him and him alone to succeed.</p><p>Soren shook his thoughts from his head. He couldn’t think about Brady’s failures or the long-term goals. He had to think about the here and now. He squeezed through the boards, making sure his brothers were right behind him, before making the final trek around the wall to the electrical cover.</p><p>Soren stood at the wall’s edge, the beams of light illuminating his hazel eyes. He took in a deep breath to calm his nerves as he summoned the words, the same words, his father spoke to him before his first borrowing trip. He turned toward his brothers and knelt, beckoning them forward to his side. He grasped their arms and looked them in the eyes.</p><p>“Are you ready?” he asked. Dorian and Rey nodded, albeit stiffly. “It’s okay to be nervous and scared. Remember?”</p><p>“Rely on our instincts. Turn nerves into strength,” replied Dorian. Soren nodded before gripping his brothers’ arms just a little tighter.</p><p>“There’s something else,” he said. “I need you two to promise me something no matter what.” Slightly alarmed, his brothers nodded.</p><p>“The apartment should be empty. I’ve had my eyes on this place for a while and I checked it out earlier. Everything should go smoothly. Still, anything can happen. The human may come back early. They may still be in the apartment. Any number of things. When we’re out there, I need you to listen to everything I tell you to do without question.”</p><p>“We can do that,” piped up Rey.</p><p>Soren paused to look his brothers’ eyes. “This means <strong>everything</strong> I tell you to do. If I say hide, you hide in the safest place you can see immediately. If I say run, you run as fast as you can back to this place here. If I say leave me, you have to listen to me and run back here. Do you understand?” His brothers’ eyes filled with panic.</p><p>“Soren…”</p><p>“No,” Soren interrupted his brother. “I have more experience than both of you. I know what to do in an emergency, most of them anyway. When we’re out there, you have to trust me. Will you trust me?”</p><p>The boys were quiet for a moment longer before nodding. “Yes.” Soren smiled.</p><p>“This is going to be fun and it is exciting. I don’t think anything is going to happen, but just in case I have to lay these ground rules.” Soren stood and readjusted his pack and his hook. “Alright, let’s go borrowing.”</p><p>Soren pressed his ear against the electrical cover and listened while Rey and Dorian watched intensely. It was clear their focus was at maximum levels. He listened closely. There was the hum of the refrigerator, which was overpowering, but Soren was satisfied for the moment. He gestured to the door.</p><p>“Want to listen?” he asked. They glanced to one another first before stepping beside Soren and pressing their ears to the cover.</p><p>“I don’t hear anything other than that hum,” said Rey, keeping his voice quiet like Soren had taught them. Soren nodded approvingly.</p><p>“This cover comes out behind the fridge. We’ll have to go out to see what we can find.” With that, Soren stepped to the side and opened the cover. “There’s another entrance that comes out beside the kitchen table, but that’s only for emergencies.”</p><p>Soren stepped through the cover, brothers at his heels, and crouch-walked until he reached the side counter. He listened again. Silence. He straightened and pointed in a broad, sweeping motion, to the kitchen.</p><p>“This is the human kitchen. If you’re looking for food, this is usually the best place to look. This human, however, tends to keep a lot of dried goods in that side room over there. Why do we look for dried foods?” asked Soren expectantly.</p><p>“It’s easier to store than fresh,” replied Dorian.</p><p>“Right. Humans also keep dried food in those cabinets. Why don’t we just put a line from here to there? It would be easier,” questioned Soren.</p><p>“Because a human could find it?” asked Rey, partially unsure of his answer.</p><p>“Right again. Now, to get to the side room, we have to run along the walls here, cross by the couch, and slide under the door. Okay? Don’t worry. We’ll take it nice and slow,” Soren said with a reassuring smile. Jittery, his brothers smiled back.</p><p>Soren waited for his brothers’ attention before taking a deep, calming breath and stepping out to instantly duck under the cabinet ledge. He reached around the corner and signaled his brothers to follow. They were on his heels in an instant. Carefully, he guided them around the side of the room, along the wall by the kitchen table, and quickly darted across to the couch.</p><p>Each step of the way, Soren made sure they practiced good habits – checking all directions, listening, staying low. The next move was longer, but only by a little. Soren could hear his heart pounding in his ears. A quick glance confirmed that his brothers were just as nervous as he felt; the main difference being they looked jittery and scared.</p><p>Soren smiled warmly before reaching over and giving both of them a quick tap on the shoulder. It seemed to be the nudge they needed. The three of them darted from the relative safety of the couch to the small gap beneath the door. Soren threw his bag onto the ground and laid on his front before sliding under the door. Dorian and Rey both followed, not half a fluid as Soren was when removing their borrowing bags and sliding under the door.</p><p>They were met with a much smaller room than the living area. It was like the back room they had practiced in for the month leading to this moment, except it was filled with numerous strangely shaped objects. Some were round with long sticks attached. Some were black and white rectangles. Some looked like big black boxes with netting across the front. Dorian and Rey both seemed to shrink and cling closer together after surveying the room.</p><p>Most importantly, the ground was littered with partially empty and opened chip bags and plenty of small trinkets the boys could choose from. Soren quickly checked the corners and the shadows. Nothing. It was quiet. [Today’s a good day.]</p><p>Relaxing slightly, Soren slung his bag back over his shoulder and headed for the nearest bag.</p><p>“Remember, don’t take what the human may notice. Let’s get some chips, then we’ll look around. Be sure to always stay in eyesight of me if you want to explore, okay?” said Soren. Dorian and Rey, daring not to leave their brother’s side, eagerly walked on either side of him. Dorian and Rey stared at the bag, eyes wide, as the opening was nearly double their height.</p><p>“Why do the humans have to be so big?” asked Rey rhetorically.</p><p>“That’s the greatest question of them all,” sighed Soren before ducking into the bag. He crouched and tested the staleness of the chips by bending them. Satisfied with their freshness, he began placing them into his bag. After gathering four or so, he stepped out and motioned for his brothers to go in and gather some for themselves.</p><p>Dorian ducked inside and began placing fragments of chip into his bag. “How can you tell the good from the bad?” He asked.</p><p>“Depends on the chip, but usually the quicker they snap in half, the fresher it is,” replied Soren. After filling their packs, they spent some time walking about the room. Rey and Dorian had dozens of questions on their mind, and Soren tried to answer them all – for what he knew anyway. Soren glanced around the room, noticing the volume of partially eaten chip bags. [This is probably why the mice came in the first place.]</p><p>While borrowing, both brothers selected a trinket which they believed the human would not miss. One of them being a thick piece of plastic which was rounded on one side and pointed on the other. It was a pearly blue color and it could fit on the wall or as a shield with the right holes. The other found a hard-plastic cylindrical piece. It was black and had strange symbols on it. It was tall in the middle and had curved edges which flattened out. Rey decided to wear it as a helmet.</p><p>Their borrowings successfully secured in their bags, they made the trek back across the room and under the door. They made it to the couch and back along the wall without incident. It wasn’t until they rounded the final corner and were within eyeline of the electrical cover that they heard something.</p><p>The sound of jingling keys. Both Rey and Dorian froze in their tracks. Even from behind the safety of the refrigerator, they began trembling in their boots. Soren felt his heart jump into his throat and his body tense. He forced himself to take a breath as to maintain the attention of his tagalongs. Soren, thinking quickly, pulled at their arms and toward the electrical cover.</p><p>“It’s okay. The human can’t see us from here,” Soren reaffirmed. “Still, we need to go.” Rey and Dorian nodded, allowing Soren to pull them inside the safety of the wall cover. A smile spread across their faces.</p><p>“We… we did it! We just finished our first borrowing trip!” Dorian and Rey cheered, jumping into a series of shoulder shakes and fist bumps. Soren let them have their moment before pulling them into an embrace.</p><p>“You’re official borrowers now. What do you think of that, bobbins?” Soren reached up past the mouse skin hoods and ruffled his brothers’ hair. Their celebration was brief, but the meaningful looks they gave one another meant the world. What he wouldn’t give to see the look in his father’s eye, knowing he helped train his brothers in their first borrowing trip. “I’m so proud of you two,” muttered Soren.</p><p>They stayed embraced for another few minutes before beginning the trek back to camp. Soren led the way and listened as Rey and Dorian talked about what they thought was the strangest and what they were going to do with their borrowings. It wasn’t until they were almost back to their camp when Soren heard Rey’s soft, kind voice call out his name.</p><p>“Soren?”</p><p>“Yes Rey?” he replied.</p><p>“We… well… we were wondering… have you ever, you know, seen a human up close?” asked Rey. Soren stopped in his tracks for only half a moment before turning and walking backwards until he slowed to a stop.</p><p>“I’ve been pretty close a few times,” he replied. “It’s definitely not something you want to take lightly. Humans can be completely unaware, but some of them are very smart. You have to always be thinking ahead.”</p><p>“So, you’ve never been seen?” asked Dorian. Soren shook his head.</p><p>“No; at least, not that I know of,” he said. Soren felt his chest tighten as he thought about what his father told him about his encounters with humans. “Just remember, if you are seen, you can’t freeze.”</p><p>“What if we’re… you know, caught? What do we do?” asked Rey.</p><p>“We stay quiet. Like I said, humans can be pretty oblivious. They’re bound to think we’re not as smart as we are as long as we don’t speak to them. If something doesn’t happen instantly, they may try and turn you into a pet. If that happens, bide your time and don’t let them know you understand,” replied Soren. He remembered his father telling him about a cousin of his who accidentally spoke to a human. Needless to say, it didn’t end well. Thankfully, the secret of the borrowers was kept.</p><p>“We won’t say a word,” promised Dorian. Soren snapped out of his trance and let his lips turn up into a partial grin.</p><p>“You’d better not get caught then. Come’ere! RAWR!” Dorian and Rey shrieked and sprinted past Soren toward their camp, being chased the whole way there. Soren had to admit the trip had gone much smoother than he thought. The timing couldn’t have been better and what they borrowed would easily last them a few days.</p><p>When they arrived back at camp, after a vigorous wrestling match between the brothers, Dorian and Rey displayed their borrowings to their father who, for the first time in a long while, was back at camp. Brady, their father, seemed mildly impressed at their borrowings, but kept his complements to a minimum. Brady even had the audacity to mention that the entire trip should have brought back more food for their stores, which brought a distant hint of disapproval and sadness to the young borrowers’ eyes. His lack of complete praise for his two boys was enough to churn Soren’s insides.</p><p>[Figures. I know you couldn’t do better.] Thought Soren bitterly as he stored their food. “Okay. Let’s get you two some rest. Stretch, change, and lay down,” instructed Soren. Within a few minutes, the brothers were tucked snuggly under their blankets awaiting Soren’s arrival.</p><p>On days or nights when Soren went borrowing, he, without fail, would make sure to sit with his brothers until they fell asleep. He would sit, back against the baseboard, and let Dorian and Rey lay on him. Then, much like their mother, Soren would hum the melancholy melody of Soren’s father, Aaron, until they fell asleep.</p><p>Soren’s eyes lulled as he leaned back and hummed. Dorian and Rey were already fast asleep and curled into the crooks of his arms. As Soren fell into a restful slumber, he made a mental note to start laying out the thread to the different rooms. If his brothers were going to borrow, they needed to know how to get around the apartments.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | When Luck Runs Out</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>~Relative advisory | The following sequence may contain sensitive or “triggering” material. If you possess an aversion to the mention of one or all of the follow, please proceed with caution: blood, broken bones, fear, anxiety, trapped or confining situations, death mention. The story told is not graphic, but bare these things in mind. I sincerely hope you enjoy what is to come.~</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been just over a week since their last borrowing trip. Soren had taken his brothers out one other time, but only to help him gather and bring back a few building supplies from the older woman’s apartment. He let them wander about under the cabinets even though the door was closed. If the door had been open, Soren wouldn’t have let them come out. The cat was probably still angry at him after all.</p><p>It was at the end of that week when Soren noticed he wasn’t quite feeling himself. His head ached after a few hours of him working. His limbs responded sluggishly and he couldn’t shake the chill from the other morning. To compensate, Soren tried drinking more water and resting, but there were just so many things to do.</p><p>Soren hadn’t felt alert enough to go borrowing for food. There were enough rations in their storage space for about three weeks if they rationed carefully. Another influx of mice had made a horrible draft in the walls. Soren, Dorian, and Rey managed to find the hole, but could only place some thick cloth over the area until they could find better building materials.</p><p>Because of the hole and the dangers associated with sleeping on the ground floor, Soren wanted to scout around and find a better place to call home. He considered finding a place near the ceiling and in between multiple apartments but hadn’t had the chance to check. Another move wasn’t optimal, but the argument to stay weakened by the hour.</p><p>Plus, Soren had committed to lining the walls with thread to help his brothers get from place to place. Unfortunately, the halls were more than the thread he currently possessed; and his pounding head wasn’t helping. He had only managed to thread from camp to all of the entrances that were safe in the older human’s apartment.</p><p>Dorian and Rey were obviously worried about their oldest brother. They asked him frequently if they could help in any way or if he wanted them to do a task instead. They even asked if they could go borrowing again in the apartment they went to first with the bags of chips scattered about. Soren, with a weak but thoughtful smile, would always respond the same way.</p><p>“Focus on your training. Work on sprints and your climbing. Braid this thread so you have a strong borrowing line for rappelling. Think about the things we need. We’ll go borrowing together soon.”</p><p>Soren knew Rey and Dorian were safe and the confidence they were gaining from two simple borrowing trips was astounding. Still, Soren didn’t want them to go on their own. They were too young. They didn’t have enough experience. They hadn’t been placed in a dangerous situation and didn’t know how to respond to an emergency.</p><p>Soren knew he couldn’t protect his brothers from the world forever, but he couldn’t bring himself to send them into the world without knowing he had done everything to prepare them.</p><p>~~~~~</p><p>It was just over a week now, and Soren hadn’t gone borrowing for food in that time. Not only had he not gone borrowing, but he was still feeling poorly. Today seemed to be worse than before. His body visibly shook if he wasn’t concentrating and he had to squint so the light wouldn’t hurt his eyes. Mind slightly foggy, Soren decided he would finish laying the last line to the older human’s apartment and try to sleep off whatever was plaguing him.</p><p>He ruffled his brothers’ hair before setting out, noting the concerned look in their eyes before they began working on their own thread lines for their hooks. This interaction took place a few hours ago. Soren was forced to take a few moments to shrug off the shaking and to keep his head from swirling.</p><p>He was walking back, his feet carrying his aching body reluctantly back to camp. The mouse pelt on his shoulders was keeping him warm, but only barely. Soren saw the corner of the wall, knowing their camp was mere feet away. He was looking forward to a nice long rest when something pricked him as odd.</p><p>There was no sound. There was nothing. On days he went out, his brothers usually hung near the edge he left so they could greet him. Even if he didn’t see them, Soren could hear Dorian and Rey in debate or discussion.</p><p>His heart began to pound in his chest. His chest tightened and his eyes, blurry moments before, were now sharp and wide awake. Soren’s pace increased to a quick jog. He rounded the corner. The camp didn’t seem disturbed, which was the first thing he noticed. There were no new holes in the walls and there was no evidence of a struggle or wreckage, so mice were ruled out.</p><p>Soren was about to call out when he spotted Brady sitting against the baseboard near their food storage space. It looked like he was counting or taking stock.</p><p>“Brady,” said Soren stiffly. He barely turned his head to acknowledge Soren. “Where are Dorian and Rey?” Brady didn’t answer, almost acting as though he hadn’t heard Soren.</p><p>“We’re going to need some more supplies soon,” muttered Brady absent mindedly. Frustrated, Soren stormed up to Brady, a trembling threatening to take his voice and his patience.</p><p>“Brady, where are Dorian and Rey?” Soren demanded. Brady stopped what he was doing and made fleeting eye-contact with Soren, his pale blue eyes mocking him.</p><p>“They… went out,” he replied quietly.</p><p>“Out? Out whe…” Soren’s foggy mind put it together. “You mean borrowing?” Brady nodded once.</p><p>“They wanted to resupply and know you’re not feeling well,” Brady responded. Soren’s head swirled. To keep from falling over, he stumbled and pressed himself against the wall.</p><p>“And you let them go on their own?!” Soren’s voice was a mixture of a cracked growl and sheer panic.</p><p>“You’ve taken them out multiple times. I thought it would be okay. They were going where they borrowed before; that apartment to the left,” said Brady. His voice, usually aloof, finally began to seem concerned. His pale blue eyes beginning to fill with concern. Soren could barely breathe, a crushing feeling engulfing his chest and his lungs.</p><p>“I never took them to the apartment to the left. We’ve only been to the one on the right. The one on the left is…” Soren felt nausea seize his insides. He knew where they had gone, and it was the wrong way. “The fighting humans. The ones who are always bickering and shouting. That’s where they went!”</p><p>Soren’s feet could not carry him fast enough. He thrust himself off of the wall and began sprinting as fast as his legs could manage. To his surprise, Brady began to follow; though he was significantly slower than Soren. Every pounding step sent a throbbing pain through Soren’s head, but he didn’t care. He had to get there. He had to protect them.</p><p>Soren’s lungs screamed in agony, desperate for air, as he rounded the corner to the final stretch. He could see a light halfway across the wall – the familiar light of an uncovered electrical socket. [They must’ve gone in through here.] Soren didn’t slow down. He sprinted faster and faster, slamming into the wall and throwing himself outside into the human world outside the walls.</p><p>He emerged by the kitchen table, reminiscent of his first trek to that apartment. Soren didn’t have time to worry about whether the humans were present or not. If he remembered what day it was, the humans should be out; and he had to trust he was right about this. He followed the baseboard and peered out.</p><p>There they were. They were on the other side of the kitchen by the trashcan. Soren’s relief was almost completely overridden by a sinking, panicking, gut-wrenching punch. They were standing mere inches from a mousetrap.</p><p>A desperate shout caught in his throat. He wanted to shout to them. He wanted to call their names, but his numbed mind wouldn’t let him. Instead, he acted on pure instinct.</p><p>Disregarding any potential hazards and possible nearby humans, Soren sprinted out into the open straight for his brothers. Everything happened too quickly for Soren to process it.</p><p>Soren sprinted across the tiles, making it from one side of the narrow kitchen area to the other in record time. Rey spotted him first, but Dorian didn’t notice as he leaned over the trap, arms extended to grab the bait. Before Dorian’s hands could reach out, Soren was upon them. Soren grabbed the back of Dorian’s shirt and threw him backwards with all of his might.</p><p>Dorian was thrust backwards away from the trap safely, landing several inches away on the ground. Soren, on the other hand, had come to the end of his luck.</p><p>The momentum of him running in a dead sprint combined with the force of throwing his brother backwards left Soren off balance. He stumbled forward. His sluggish movements kept him from catching his weight. He tried to angle his fall, but it wasn’t enough. His left pant leg caught the tripping mechanism. There was an ear deafening whirr and a thunderous crack and snap of the mousetrap.</p><p>There was a moment, only a moment, of complete and stunned silence before Soren’s sharp cry of pain filled their ears. Soren did his best to stifle his sudden shriek by shoving his fist into his mouth. Reactively, his body began shuddering and shaking while tears gathered in his eyes.</p><p>“SOREN!” Dorian and Rey flew to their brother’s side near his face. Based on the look on Rey’s face, Soren could tell the injury was bad – really bad. Soren didn’t want to know. He couldn’t bring himself to look over his shoulder at what he might find. Instead, he focused on his brothers’ pale faces.</p><p>“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!” Dorian cried over and over, hesitating and unsure of what to do. His eyes darted from Soren’s pain twisted face to the leg snapped beneath the mousetrap bar. “I… I don’t… I don’t know what to do.” Dorian’s eyes filled with tears as did Rey’s eyes.</p><p>Soren focused on his breathing. He felt his body exerting its control, trying to make him fade. [No. I can’t. Not yet. I have to get out of here. I have to get Dorian and Rey out of here.] Nausea plagued him and caused his thoughts to swirl. His leg burned and throbbed with every beat of his heart. His body convulsed and shuddered relentlessly, but he was still in control.</p><p>“It’s… okay,” Soren managed to say through gritted teeth. “Not… your fault.”</p><p>“I… I didn’t mean… We wanted to… we were just trying to…” Rey stammered, collapsing to his knees.</p><p>“I know,” Soren managed to muster. Pain throbbed from his entire leg. He tried breathing a little faster as the edges of his vision clouded. “I… need you two… to stay focused… Can you do that?” Both Dorian and Rey’s eyes were gushing with tears while they tried to contain their running noses with hefty sniffles, but they managed a nod.</p><p>“Good. Now… is…” Soren had to brace himself for the answer. His ears were beginning to ring, making hearing difficult. “Is my leg… still there?” Soren could have leapt for joy at the subtle nod of his brothers. [Broken, not gone. I can work with that.]</p><p>“Good,” he sighed, forcing more air into his lungs. His body shuddered again as a cold sweat began coating his body. “Now this is important. Carefully, see if you can lift up the bar. Stand on the board and lift. Just be careful and don’t grab my leg.” They nodded obediently and shakily stood. Soren could see in their eyes that the injury was a bad one. He tried shaking his thoughts away, but it was of little use.</p><p>He felt them step on the wooden platform. The slight movement sent his mind reeling with pain, involuntarily making him gasp and grit his teeth. He felt the pressure beginning to alleviate and the sounds of his brothers struggling.</p><p>“Lift harder!” said Dorian with strained difficulty.</p><p>“I’m trying!” Rey wailed, his clouded eyes closing tight as he lifted.</p><p>Try as they might, the boys could not budge the bar more than a few millimeters off of Soren’s leg. Soren was unable to turn and see their faces, but could hear them starting to sob uncontrollably.</p><p>“Dorian… Rey…” Soren was beginning to have a hard time focusing. The ringing in his ears made everything sound far away. He pulled his attention back from his body to his brothers. His brothers slunk back to face him until they were practically curled up by his shoulders. Soren tried to ignore the blood on their hands and the defeated look in their eyes. “It’s going to be okay.”</p><p>“What happened?” Soren couldn’t believe the relief he felt at hearing Brady’s voice.</p><p>“It… it was my fault. I made Soren trip… and…” Dorian began balling again. With what little concentration Soren could muster, he reached out and grabbed his brothers’ hands.</p><p>“It’s… not your fault,” said Soren as he fought off another wave of nausea. “We’re going to fix this. Brady’s going to help me. Right?” Soren could guess the face Brady made based on his brothers’ reactions.</p><p>Soren was given no warning as Brady stepped onto the piece of wood and pulled at the bar. His nerves screamed in protest. A pinching, burning sensation swelled in his leg and shot like adrenaline into his brain. Unfortunately, Brady wasn’t trying to lift the bar and instead gave a no-warning test pull to see how difficult it would be to free Soren’s leg.</p><p>“Soren, I don’t know…” Brady began to mutter, but Soren cut him short.</p><p>“You are going to get me out of here. I know it.” Soren’s brave face was starting to slip further into the bliss of darkness.</p><p>The determination in Soren’s voice brought a flicker of hope to Dorian and Rey’s eyes; but it did not last. There was a sound. A familiar sound of grinding and whirring mechanical gears coming from behind the door. Soren knew this sound, and Brady knew enough to know what it meant.</p><p>The humans were home.</p><p>Sheer panic filled Dorian and Rey’s eyes. They looked to their father for a fleeting moment before looking back to Soren. Soren felt his insides drop. He was trapped and there wasn’t a moment to lose. Heart racing, temple pounding, and vision beginning to blur, Soren turned to his brothers and looked them dead in the eye.</p><p>“You two need to run,” said Soren. He kept his voice as steady as he could while looking them in the eyes. Their moods shifted immediately.</p><p>“Wh… what? NO! We can’t leave you! We won’t leave you!” sputtered Dorian.</p><p>“Don’t make us leave, Soren!” sobbed Rey. Soren stared at his brothers harshly.</p><p>“You promised me you would listen to what I told you to do when we’re out here borrowing. You said you would trust me and listen to what I said,” he said sternly. Soren felt his body shudder violently again as he gripped his brothers’ hands tighter. [Don’t make this tough. What if… No! You’re getting out of this. Don’t scare them.] He softened his voice and tried his best to force a smile.</p><p>“I’m going to be okay,” said Soren, his trembling voice was measured and sounded close to normal. “Brady is going to get me out; but, for right now, you need to go back to the walls and hide. Okay?” Dorian and Rey looked into their brother’s eyes.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” muttered Dorian. Soren shook his head.</p><p>“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. Now, go.” With a reluctant nod and a sniff, they pressed their foreheads to his, stood, and started running for the wall as fast as their little legs could carry them. Brady and Soren were alone now.</p><p>Soren could see the expression on Brady’s face, which was one of pure mortification. The sound of the car rolling into the garage and turning off was perfectly clear to both of them now. The grinding, whirring gears of the immense door started up again. They didn’t have much time.</p><p>“Brady!” Soren called his names several times to get his attention. “We don’t have a lot of time. Pull up on the bar.” Brady didn’t move. He stood there, frozen stiff and eyes locked on the door leading into the kitchen where the grinding sounds were. “Brady!” Soren could see in his peripheral vision that Brady had stepped off of the mousetrap now and was inching away from Soren.</p><p>[No… he’s not… he’s not going to.] Thought Soren. [He’s too terrified of being seen again. He… he’s going to leave me.]</p><p>“I… I can’t,” muttered Brady. “It’s too heavy.”</p><p>“You didn’t even try! Brady! Listen to me, we don’t have time to debate this. I can’t do this on my own. I need you to try! For Dorian and Rey, I need you to try.” Soren couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Brady had taken a few more steps into the open back toward the safety of the wall socket on the other side of the room. They heard the jingling of keys. Soren’s vision swam as he fought another pang of nausea. He slammed his fist onto the ground as if it helped him stay connected to his conscious self. His head was starting to throb painfully.</p><p>“You’re right. I do need to try,” Brady muttered. “I can’t save you, but I’ll try and do what I can for my sons. I haven’t been there for them. You helped me see that. I can do better now.”</p><p>Soren felt his jaw drop. His insides churned while his vision blurred again. He gasped for air as another wave of throbbing pain injected itself in his thoughts. The cold sweat returned, wracking his body with a bout of shivers which made him accidentally twitch his leg. He cried out again in pain, wincing as the tears fell onto his hands.</p><p>Soren wasn’t one to cry, but his body now had a mind of its own. Once completely in control, Soren’s body began to seize the opportunity and drag him into darkness. His thoughts spilled from his mouth involuntarily in a final, desperate attempt to draw Brady back.</p><p>“Don’t! You can’t leave me here. Dorian and Rey, they won’t make it!”</p><p>“I’m sorry…” was his only response.</p><p>His brothers, the only two people who mattered anymore, were going to be left in the hands of an incompetent fool. How would they survive? Would they survive? What was going to happen to them? Soren watched as Brady ducked into the walls and secured the electrical cover over the entrance.</p><p>There were several seconds – several precious seconds – where Soren was left completely alone. It was that silence that brought forth that single, terrible notion he had suppressed until this point in time.</p><p>He was probably going to die.</p><p>Soren heard the jingle of keys hit the kitchen counter as his body exerted its control over his mind. His body shook violently from exhaustion and stress. Cold chills coated his face and torso. If he had something heavy for lunch, it would have made a reappearance. Instead, he gagged a few times. The involuntary thrashing sent waves of new searing pain into his mind. His vision swirled and began to blacken, but not before he caught a glimpse of the woman’s shadow overcasting his frame.</p><p>He gave into the darkness, slipping quietly away to an end he did not know.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Found</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ashlynn backed into her spot, fist slamming into the button and her emotions a tumultuous swirling twister. She couldn’t tell if she wanted to scream or cry, drive through the wall or curl up in the back seat.</p><p>It was done – finished, for sure this time – and Ashlynn wasn’t sure how she felt about it yet.</p><p>A night of self-care was no longer a suggestion – it was mandatory.</p><p>She fumbled with the keys and shoved them into the lock. Wrong key. She cursed under her breath while twisting the silver ring of keys in her fingers to the identical key on the opposite side. She had to get a cover for the apartment key.</p><p>As she turned the lock, she heard – or thought she heard – something on the other side of the door. It was muffled and distorted and sounded like a voice. Ashlynn shook her head. It was a long day at the courthouse and it was most likely the neighbor kids playing in the front yard. She only hoped they didn’t scuff up her windows again.</p><p>She stepped through the door into the kitchen. A wave of warmth washed over her body. She crossed the threshold and tossed her keys onto the counter. Despite the warmth in the air, a cold shiver ran down her spine and prickled the hair on the back of her neck.</p><p>Something felt off about the air of the kitchen. Something charged and uneasy. Ashlynn glanced around the small, joining rooms from the kitchen, dining area, and living room. Nothing.</p><p>Ashlynn was about to write it off as her feeling paranoid when she heard something that sounded eerily similar to a cough. She walked around the corner of the counter toward the trashcan.</p><p>She glanced around the can and onto the ground. There. Immediately, she leapt backwards up onto the counter and drew her legs to her chest. [That’s just great. That looser set all of those mouse traps and now I’m the one who has to clean it up.] A quick, unnerved shudder overtook her shoulders as she carefully slipped back onto the ground.</p><p>The broom was in the closet, but the bags were nearby. [Oh gosh. What if it’s not dead?!] Ashlynn peered around the corner again and prayed the mouse was dead already. It wasn’t moving, which seemed like a good sign until she noticed something off about the creature.</p><p>She had dealt with mousetraps before, but she hadn’t seen a mouse look like this before. The way its leg was under the bar wasn’t quite right. The mouse seemed flattened, yet it wasn’t close to the bar. More importantly – and most unnerving of all – it had arms.</p><p>Not only did it have arms, but it had hands and a mess of dark brown hair which contrasted greatly with the smoky grey pelt of the mouse. The leg was splayed on its side, and there was a something that looked like a shoe.</p><p>Ashlynn’s instincts were electrified, curiosity peaked. She began to wonder if this was even a mouse. She knelt and leaned forward. Her heart began to beat faster, her breath held unintentionally, as she reached out and pulled the mouse head, which she could now see had no eyes, up slightly.</p><p>She retracted her hand immediately after spotting the small, pale features of what looked like a human face. Her hands trembled and suddenly felt tremendously cold. She wrung her hands together as the mind ran off to the races.</p><p>What was this? Some kind of practical joke? This looked like a human – a person. Was it a figurine? The notion was ridiculous. A doll wearing mouse skin? Was it even still alive? She didn’t want to check, but some part of her compelled her to do so.</p><p>Ashlynn reached forward again and pulled the mouse pelt away further to reveal the small face again. From what she could tell, this new person was a he. His body was shivering, but he didn’t seem to be conscious.</p><p>Panicking, she reached over to the edge of the mousetrap, hesitated, then stood again. She couldn’t call emergency services. What would she say? That there was a human looking person the size of her hand laying on her kitchen floor caught in a mousetrap with what looked like a broken leg? No. As usual, she had to do everything herself.</p><p>She didn’t understand much about emergency first-aid, but she knew his leg was most likely fractured or broken by the way it was turned in the trap. She had helped her cousins set a few noses and fingers. How hard could this be? The leg needed to be braced, and there weren’t a lot of things to use. [Great. This is exactly what I wanted. I wanted to come home to an obligation – a very, tiny obligation. It’s not like I was going to drown my sorrows in a bathtub and binge watch a season or two of something.]</p><p>Thankfully, her crafting from her youth was finally coming in handy. She quickly cut some cheep chopsticks and gathered up some tape before going back to the mousetrap. He, whatever he was, was still there laying relatively motionless and shivering from time to time.</p><p>As carefully as she could, Ashlynn secured the trap and lifted the bar. Instantly, there was a pain filled gasp as the small figure lurched and turned, falling off of the trap and onto the tile. Ashlynn could now see his entire front exposed. His limbs wrapped across his form, yet he still seemed unconscious.</p><p>His clothes were a patchwork of dirty cloth made of a dull, muddy green and brown. There were things around his waist which rested on his hip and across his body. Ashlynn marveled at the figure before he convulsed into another bout of shudders. She needed to work fast.</p><p>With a mixture of fascination and annoyance, Ashlynn worked on the small humanoid. She secured his leg within the brace, noting the small amount of blood by his shin from where his leg was pinched beneath the bar and how he winced and gasped as she carefully set the leg. Google had served her well, but it took a while to find a website that helped walk her through the process.</p><p>It took nearly an hour, but she managed to brace and, for the most part, set the leg. She had to remove most of the pant leg to successfully brace the leg and immobilize it in a wrap. Something about his skin felt warm, yet clammy. [He’s not sick is he?] Ashlynn, with the utmost care, laid the tip of her index finger against his forehead. He was burning up.</p><p>[Great. Just great. Sick. Broken. This is fine. It’s not like I was going to do something for myself. Curses! Why do I always get stuck with the ones I have to fix!]</p><p>Ashlynn finished up gathering other supplies for her new sick and injured house guest, knowing a sleepless night was before her.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Awakened</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Soren wakes to realize he is in the human world. He has been unconscious for who knows how long - and the human has some startling things to say.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nightmarish and torrent, Soren tossed and turned, his sleep unrestful. He was hot and wanted nothing more than to tear off his clothes and dive into the snow outside. The other part of him craved the warmth. His body twitched and convulsed every time a rush of cold surrounded him. He felt as though his skin was crawling, being brushed by thousands of irritating feathers constantly.</p><p>His breath was rough, and he woke himself coughing only to be dragged back into darkness. His throat felt glossy and coated, as though no amount of water could wash away the grime caking his insides.</p><p>Moments in time seemed to flash before his eyes, making him flinch away. There were moments of sharp, agonizing pain. There were shadows and sensations of falling or rising up, being completely weightless. There were moments of complete darkness, but they didn’t last as long as Soren wanted.</p><p>At least in the darkness he didn’t have to see their faces – the faces of his brothers. The same scene played in the pauses of darkness. He could see his brothers. His voice wouldn’t scream. His legs could not move. All he could do was stay frozen in time before the shadow overtook him.</p><p>He would try shouting again, this time calling to his brothers, for anybody, to help him. No one would come. Soren was left alone every time to be consumed by the darkness. Heart pounding, breath hot and ragged, body shaking and aching to its core, he would slip back into darkness only to repeat the cycle.</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>Soren couldn’t bring himself to open his eyes. It wasn’t because of the last thing he saw. It wasn’t because of what he thought he would see. It was because his eyes, like the rest of his body, hurt. It was a deep, aching hurt as though he had stared at the sun and climbed an entire oak tree in a day.</p><p>Coming to consciousness was the least of his worries. A wave of confusion scrambled his mind. Where was he? What happened? He thought he remembered what happened. Or was everything a dream? Why was his skin crawling? Why couldn’t he move his leg? Everything hurt, especially his leg. He squinted, eyelashes obscuring some of his vision.</p><p>He noticed, first, that the ceiling and the walls towered above him. He blinked several more times. Something was restraining his leg from bending, but the way it was throbbing subtly made moving it seem like a bad idea. The rest of his body was lightly restrained, but his grasping fingers slightly identified the restraint as a soft blanket. The surface he was on was soft and perfectly outlined his body.</p><p>It hit him all at once. His mind, still slightly foggy, cleared. His eyes shot open. He was not home. He was out – in the human world.</p><p>His head throbbed lightly as he glanced around in his periphery. From what he could tell, he was in some kind of cardboard box that used to belong to tissue paper. There was no lid, thank goodness, but there were low walls on each side of him. His heart began to pound in his chest, quivering as though it were pumping air.</p><p>The ground was made of some kind of soft, squishy material which was much nicer than anything he had borrowed for bedding in a long time. There was a strange taste in his mouth, but he couldn’t place it. It was slightly salty, but it didn’t taste like blood.</p><p>Soren reached up past the blanket and touched his chest and felt along his arms. These limbs seemed to be intact. His mind, firing wildly, became blank as the mortifying thought came to him – the pain in his leg. Was the pain there because his leg was throbbing? Or was there pain because it was gone?</p><p>Carefully, he reached out with his foot and pressed. Sure enough, his toes found something stiff and, to his relief, still attached. He nudged carefully with his unincumbered foot, feeling a quick jolt of pain ripple through his body. [Still attached. Still there.]</p><p>Soren could feel himself panicking. His breath was rapidly increasing. What had happened while he was out? He wasn’t where he was when he fell unconscious. Did that mean… Soren’s entire body shuddered. He felt light-headed, head swirling dangerously fast. Did that mean… the human? He couldn’t bring himself to finish his own thought.</p><p>He had to get out of here. He had to get out of the box, away from the human, and back to his brothers. A pit formed in his insides. How were his brothers? How were they holding up? What did Brady… Soren felt his teeth grind against one another as his fists clenched into tight balls.</p><p>Brady… he’s the reason he was hurt. He’s the reason he was caught. He left him to get captured. A burning, vengeful hate swelled in Soren. [If I ever see that scum again, I’ll make sure the humans are the least of his worries.]</p><p>Soren didn’t want to shake his thoughts away, but he had to. He couldn’t focus on escaping if his mind wasn’t clear. Despite his best efforts, Soren was having an extremely difficult time with this. His fuzzy brain wouldn’t let him string more than a few thoughts together at a time.</p><p>He focused on the simple things – the borrower rules. He had involuntarily broken two rules – don’t be seen and don’t get caught. There were other rules he had to maintain; the next one being to not let the human know he could speak and understand them – at least, not willingly.  </p><p>Humans were cruel and had their methods of getting other humans to disclose information. Soren could only imagine what may happen to him. [Stop. Calm down. You need to think straight. I can’t focus on that right now.] Despite what his resolve, Soren’s body still shook involuntarily from fear. He raised his arms above his head and took deep, heaving breaths to keep his mind from spiraling.</p><p>He closed his eyes and listened. At the moment, he couldn’t hear any additional sounds nearby. He could hear the heated air rushing through the vents. He could hear the pounding of his heart in his ears. He could taste something strange in his mouth, but it wasn’t blood. He felt his leg pulsing from time to time with pain and the ache of his body. Did he dare look for bruises? What if they looked like…</p><p>Soren’s breath hitched and sent him into a coughing spasm. When the cough subsided, Soren let out a moan of frustration and pushed himself with what little strength he could summon into an upright position. The blanket covering his chest fell from his frame. The rush of cold air made goose bumps form on his arms.</p><p>It was then that he heard it – a thumping sound growing louder and louder with each passing moment. Heart racing, he pulled himself backwards until his back against the cardboard. His left leg dragged behind, a stark reminder of his already severe disadvantage. Soren reached down quickly and pulled the blanket over his torso.</p><p>[Breathe. Just breathe. You can do this.] He felt the vibrations in the ground growing closer and closer until he saw the top of the immense, human head cresting over the edge of the box. He felt his insides hollow and his shoulders begin shaking involuntarily as he became completely exposed to the human’s eyes. Nothing – not the training from his father or his years of experience – prepared him for this.</p><p>The woman’s eyes were a pale blue grey and her hair was pulled into a messy bun. She seemed to approach the box cautiously, barely peering into the box before spotting him. Her eyes widened upon seeing him awake and moving around. She looked hesitant and curious at the same time; a dangerous combination for him.</p><p>Her eyes seemed to look right through him, examining every feature in an instant. It was unsettling and made Soren’s heart beat faster with every second she watched him. There was a moment when their eyes met that Soren worried she might suspect his level of understanding and intelligence, which he tried to subtly deflect by staring from her off to the ceiling. He then began staring at his hands.</p><p>There were several seconds where she stared at him, observing every head twitch and glance or lack thereof. Then, she spoke directly to him.</p><p>“So, you’re awake – finally.” She kept her voice low, much to his relief. His throbbing head panged at every sound. Still, keeping her voice low wasn’t any better. The words themselves sent chill rippling through his body. He tried to keep his breathing as calm as he could, but noticed his heart doubled in speed.</p><p>Soren realized immediately this was going to be difficult. He had heard stories about humans and how they interacted with borrowers, but all of the stories and training he received from his father and mother paled in comparison to the true experience. He continued to tug at the blanket and tilted his head, acting confused. The woman approached a little closer and knelt. He continued to keep his gaze averted.</p><p>“What, nothing?” she prompted. Soren clenched his jaw and looked to the corners of the box. “You could at least say thank you after I patched up your leg and made sure your fever didn’t spike.”</p><p>[Yeah right; like I’m going to say anything to you human.] Soren took a few deep breaths hoping his pounding heart would slow. There were several more seconds of the woman simply staring at him.</p><p>“Playing dumb?” she asked.</p><p>[Please just leave. That or get on with whatever you’re going to do.] Soren knew his silent plea would be unheard, but it somehow brought an unsettling comfort. He wouldn’t be tricked into speaking because of a stupid insult.</p><p>“I know you can talk,” she stated plainly.</p><p>[False. You don’t. You’re taking a guess. There’s no way you can know. This is just a ploy.] Soren reached up and scratched the back of his neck lazily, hoping the woman didn’t notice the way his body was making his hands shake.</p><p>“You’ve done it already.” This, too, was unsettling. [I’ve done it already? How? I’ve been asleep. No. She’s just bluffing. She can’t mean it.] As if the woman could read his mind, she continued to press.</p><p>“You don’t believe me, do you?” she asked. “Well, if that’s the case, then let me ask this; Who are Dorian, Rey, and Brady?” Soren’s blood ran cold. His eyes widened involuntarily, obvious shock on his face. His body stiffened. Even in his peripheral vision, he could see a twinge of a smile on the woman’s face.</p><p>“Thought so,” she muttered. “You were talking in your sleep and, let me say, you had some pretty choice things to say about whoever ‘Brady’ is; and you sounded pretty worried about Dorian and Rey. High fever can make someone talk in their sleep sometimes.”</p><p>Soren, involuntarily, lowered his hand from behind his head and brought it over his mouth. Was it possible? Could he have spoken in his sleep? It must be true. She wouldn’t know the names, their names, if that wasn’t the case. His body took control once again from his mind and he began shaking and breathing rapidly. A wave of nausea pushed into his gut and his head swirled dangerously fast.</p><p>[What does this mean? If I didn’t talk in my sleep, then that means she has them. If I did talk, then I’ve already broken the borrower rules and she knows I understand her.] Soren began shivering uncontrollably. Both prospects were terrifying and keeping his mind from thinking straight. His heart felt ready to burst through his ribs. Every impulse in his body wanted to scream, but his voice caught in his throat. [If she knows I understand, I won’t be able to escape. She’ll build an impossible cage and keep me here.]</p><p>The woman’s voice snapped his attention back to the present, both mentally and physically. His eyes whipped up to look into hers just as he spotted her shrug. “It doesn’t matter to me either way to me if you understand me or not. You do you.”</p><p>With that, she stood, turned, and walked out of the room. Soren was left alone in the box to his thoughts.</p><p>[She just left? She left. No lid? No touching? No grabbing? Just left.] His mind was a muddled mess. He couldn’t think straight. Every thought was instantly dismissed and reintroduced as panic. Suddenly, one clear thought fought its way to the forefront of his mind. Now was the time – he had to escape now, no matter what.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Escape</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Soren knows it's a long shot, but he has to try - he must escape.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Soren almost couldn’t believe he had been left entirely alone after being completely exposed to a human. His body certainly couldn’t believe it. His heart pounded rapidly in his chest and his breath had nearly stopped entirely. His body continuously trembled both from the entire encounter and the chill in his core he couldn’t reach to warm. There were so many things that didn’t make sense. It was frustrating and terrifying. Why hadn’t the human put him in a cage? Why had they bandaged his leg with such precision and care? Where were all of his things?</p><p>Looking around, he couldn’t see his borrowing hook or his mouse pelt. In fact, the covering on his body was some kind of long nightgown that he wasn’t wearing when he fell unconscious. [Did… the human make this? That means…] Soren shivered violently and shook away his thoughts as best as he could. He didn’t want to think about the human touching him and, worse, dressing him.</p><p>Soren focused on what he could do and see at the moment. It sent his head into a fit of pounding and his leg throbbed in protest, but he threw off the blanket from his body and stood. He was just shy of four and a half inches, yet that wasn’t enough to look over the edge of the box. [I need to get up and over the edge. I can’t see from here.] Soren hobbled over to the makeshift bed and tried folding it in half. Fortune seemed to favor him once again. He stepped carefully on the cushion, trying his best to ignore the screaming protests in his leg, and peered over the edge.</p><p>He was on some kind of table beside the human’s bed. There was a small lamp that looked like a pink rock and medical supplies like a roll of bandages as tall as him, tape, and a few bottles of liquid he didn’t recognize. The lamp was what caught his attention. Lamps had cords. Lamps led to electrical covers which, in turn, could lead him home; but the throbbing in his leg and tremor in his limbs consumed a large portion of his concentration and strength.</p><p>[I have to be quick; act before my body has a chance to protest.] Soren pushed through the aching in his limbs and used his one good leg to jump onto the edge of the cardboard box. With little effort, he tumbled over the side and hit the hard, wooden table with a muffled thud. He barely managed to stifle his gasp of pain as another wave of nausea and chills crept over his body.</p><p>He couldn’t think about it now. He had to get off of the table and onto the floor, but the throbbing in his leg told him he wouldn’t get far without help. Soren glanced around for anything he could borrow to aid his walking. Sure enough, there were several broken off pieces of thick wood. Soren thought humans called them chopsticks. He shuddered to think as to why they were called chop sticks but had limited options before him. He hobbled to the pile of sticks and shoved a few off of the edge before approaching the lamp cord.</p><p>Unable to test its strength or his own, Soren chanced his life to the thick cable and his shaking limbs. Heights had never bothered him before, but the constant pulsing and throbbing in his head created a sense of vertigo he hadn’t experienced for years. He shook his thoughts away. Now wasn’t the time. Soren knelt onto one knee, other leg outstretched, as he laid against the cord and shoved himself off of the table. His shoulders buckled, but his grip held firm as he slid down the rubber cord.</p><p>The surface of his palms burned and stunk by the time he reached the bottom, but he had managed to make it uninjured – for the most part. Soren leaned off of the chord and stabilized himself, taking several deep and reassuring breaths, before hobbling over to the chopsticks he intended to borrow. The wood was heavier than what he would’ve liked, but it couldn’t be helped now.</p><p>He took the stick and leaned heavily against it like a large walking stick and surveyed his surroundings. He was in the human’s bedroom, a place he wasn’t familiar with. Still, the overall structure of the building was the same. If he was right, he only had to reach the outlet at the far side of the wall near the closet. It was going to be a long shot, but he had to try.</p><p>Soren stayed close to the walls, catching his breath under the bed. He couldn’t understand why his limbs were trembling so much. Had the encounter with the human really rattled him so much? Now wasn’t the time to contemplate such things. He pressed on, each step leaving him limping severely. Pure adrenaline pushed him.</p><p>What seemed like hours passed and, finally, he made it to the electrical cover next to the closet. Now, rather than fear, his heart pounded excitedly. Was he going to make it? Could he actually escape? His fingers began to twist the screw loose from the electrical cover. [Come on. Just a little longer.] The screw was just beginning to tug loose when he heard it – a low, rhythmic rumbling; and it was getting louder, stronger – closer. [No. No. Not like this. Not like this.]</p><p>Soren’s hands began shaking as he tried to tug the screw loose. The final threads clung to the edges when he heard the creak of the door and a few more, thundering steps approached. The screw felt to the ground just as Soren heard something – someone – nearby.</p><p>He clenched his fists out of frustration and half collapsed, half shoved his shoulder into the wall to keep from falling over. His eyes, with minds of their own, dared to take a glimpse at the human. His eyes traveled across the hardwood floor until they finally traveled upward to the human’s face.</p><p>Those same pale grey-blue eyes locked into his own hazel eyes. Soren was never a crier growing up; but even so, tears of frustration began gathering in the corners of his eyes. He had almost made it out. He was mere steps away from freedom and he was freezing. He couldn’t bare to look for another second and averted his eyes. This was the curse of being seen – of being caught – by a human.</p><p>Soren’s insides churned and twisted. Another wave of chilling cold wracked his body and nearly brought him to his knees. Then, he heard something he couldn’t have predicted.</p><p>“You’re welcome.” He glanced up to see the human give a fraction of a smile before standing up to her dizzying height, turning, and walking away. He felt his jaw slacken as he slid several centimeters down the wall, barely catching himself. Where was the human going? What game was she playing? Leaving him here by the wall unguarded? He didn’t have time to debate it.</p><p>Soren shoved his fingers under the plastic covering and pried it off of the wall. He threw his walking stick in first before tossing himself over the lip of the wall. He hobbled a few feet from the entrance before falling onto his side. [No. Not yet. I can’t stop yet. I have to get back to Dorian and Rey.] He shoved himself off of the wall and hobbled down the dusty walls of the humans using the chopstick as a walking stick.</p><p>He pleaded silently that Dorian and Rey were okay. Adrenaline pushed his tremoring steps. His leg was entirely numb now, but Soren didn’t care and figured it was probably for the best.</p><p>The inner halls were dark and still. The air smelled stale and untouched. Even though this was a new area, it still connected to the other apartments. He traversed the halls until, finally, he recognized a familiar corner. Soren nearly dropped the stick in his hands, anticipation pounding in his chest. He rounded the edge and, instantly, felt his heart sink.</p><p>Where he would see their makeshift tent and supplies, bedrolls and borrowings, he saw an abandoned, torn down campsite.</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Survive</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Soren finds himself completely alone. No brothers. No Brady. No supplies. No way to borrow. How is he going to survive with a broken leg on his own?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Soren couldn’t believe his eyes. What happened? How did it happen? A quick glance round told him that it wasn’t humans or mice. [Did… they leave?] The mortifying thought started to seep into his mind. [Brady… he made them move after I got caught. Of course he would. He wanted to leave the moment we arrived after all.]</p><p>He summoned what voice he could and called out. “Dorian! Rey! Where are you?!” He stepped forward past their camp and raised his hands to his mouth in a cone. He knew it was dangerous to shout in the walls, but some part of him disregarded safety to do this. He called out again.</p><p>“Dorian! Rey!” There was nothing but the stagnant air of the space between the walls. Soren went to call again, but his voice choked in his throat.</p><p>Soren had managed to suppress everything that happened up until that point. His injury, the human, relocating. His mind grew numb as he finally allowed what happened to fully sink into his mind. He stumbled forward onto the remaining cloth of his bedroll which laid on the ground.</p><p>Soren often took moments to reflect, but more often than not it was to think about his next move or how to best look after his younger brothers. There were comparatively fewer moments when he would think about himself and things that happened to him. Now was one of those times.</p><p>Soren’s body took over, shivering uncontrollably. He wrapped his arms around his torso and curled into a ball. His left leg, still confined within its restrictive bandaging, throbbed and ached with each convulsion. He couldn’t believe what had just happened, and the stress of it all was keeping him from processing it clearly.</p><p>He was seen and caught by a human. He had been handled – held of all things – by the human at some point or another. He had talked in her presence, though he didn’t remember it, and now she knew the names of his brothers. The alternative was too frightening to consider. Then, of all things, the human watched him go without lifting so much as a finger to stop him. Soren had never been one to cry, but now that his situation had deescalated fresh, hot tears clung to his cheeks.</p><p>He knew he had to stop and get back to his brothers, but he couldn’t will his body to stand; not yet at least. He laid there for he didn’t know how long. He let his body ache and his mind become numb. It wasn’t until what felt like hours later that Soren opened his eyes once more and, as he did, he noticed something.</p><p>There was a thin, almost imperceptible layer of dust was on the cloth he was laying on. Soren rubbed his hand against the cloth to be sure. When he lifted his hand, he saw that there was indeed a thin layer. [What is this? Dust? It can’t be. This is too much for just one day…] A thought struck him. [How long was I unconscious?]</p><p>Another wave of nausea hit him; a clenching in his gut. He coughed a few times as his insides seized. This wasn’t just a reaction from stress. No. This felt like something else. This was a different kind of shaking. He remembered this feeling, though it had been a while – it was hunger.</p><p>Soren’s mind reeled again as the realizations hit him like a baseball bat. Based on what he was feeling and combined with the evidence of the dust, he realized that he had been unconscious for longer than he thought; but how long was that span of time?</p><p>Soren shook his thoughts away. He couldn’t worry about that now. There were a thousand things he needed to worry about; and the first thing was obtaining food. Standing on shaking legs, he hobbled over to their food storage. As expected, there was nothing left. The extra hooks and spools of thread were also gone.</p><p>Soren clenched his fist and pounded it against the wooden beams. [How am I supposed to start from scratch with a broken leg? How can I get away? How can I borrow like this?] He pressed his back against the wall. In his weakened state, could he even survive on his own?</p><p>[I have… to try…] Numbly, Soren pushed himself off of the wall and began walking. He wasn’t sure where he was going, and wasn’t sure if he cared where he went. Regardless of where he went, it was going to be nearly impossible to borrow anything without being seen. Each step filled him with a subtle dread. Was this it?</p><p>It wasn’t until he nearly ran into it that he realized where he was. He was back at the fighting couple’s apartment – the apartment of the human who found him. There was as thin line attached to a beam high above leading to the electrical cover by the bread box. His heart fluttered with a spark of something that felt like hope. [Maybe I can do this.]</p><p>Weak but determined, Soren attached his walking stick to the bottom of the line and began to climb. His grip shook as he place weight on it and he managed to use the wrapping on his left leg to help sustain his position on the line, but he was completely exhausted by the time he reached the top. He barely had the concentration to bring his walking stick up the line; and even as he rolled onto his back and stared beams above his head, his vision blurred.</p><p>[Something. I just have to borrow one thing to eat. I just have to get up. I have to…] His head swirled again as his insides clenched. He rolled over onto his front and pushed forward to the electrical cover. It took a moment, but he succeeded in removing the cover. He listened as hard as he could, but the light ringing in his ears made it nearly impossible.</p><p>He would have to risk it. Soren pushed the cover open and glanced around. No immediate sign of her. One step. Then another. He had almost made it when a terrible, lightheaded sensation overcame him. The next step faltered, and Soren suddenly made contact with the countertop. His vision began to darken around the edges.</p><p>[No! No! Not when I’m so close! Did the climb really take that much out of me?] Soren didn’t remember feeling so lightheaded and so tired; but the coolness of the counter felt so good against his cheek. Unable to persuade his body to act under his will, he slipped again into darkness.</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Back in the Box</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Soren awakens to find he is once again in the box crafted by the human. Now, he has to figure out how to survive and interact with the human who has helped him twice.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bliss and darkness. Silence. They lasted for a bitterly short time. At least being unaware in the darkness kept the tremors and twisting insides at bay.</p><p>Soren was slowly coming to consciousness, and a few things stood out to him. The first thing was his body was warm and only shaking slightly now. His insides were still twisting, but not as intensely as before. The same taste as before was in his mouth. He couldn’t place what it was, but it was familiar at least. One last thing – something cold was pressing against his forehead and tracing from one side to the other along his brow.</p><p>Instinctually and without thinking, he reached up and grabbed at what was pressing against his face. The movement stopped as his had grabbed at something soft and wet. It wasn’t a cloth. His fingers laced in between the cotton fibers. When he extended his arm, he felt the piece of cotton was attached to some sort of rod.</p><p>He shoved it away passively, noting that it was a challenge to push away. [Where am I? What’s going on? What is this?] Soren pried open his blurring eyes. The moment his vision cleared, his hair stood on end as he opened his eyes and came face to face with a human hand holding some sort of cotton tipped rod.</p><p>His heart jumped into his throat and his breath hitched in his throat. The tremoring in his body returned as he looked past the hand to see the human, the same woman, who had captured him before. His jaw slackened. [It’s her. What’s she going to do? She watched me escape before…]</p><p>“Glad you’re awake. I was beginning to wonder about you,” she said softly as she removed her hand.</p><p>Soren pushed himself upright and pressed his back against the box. He noticed a few things that weren’t there before. First and foremost, two of the walls of the box were removed and laid on their sides. The human cut off but kept them attached to the box. More importantly, Soren could see his walking stick as well as his other supplies such as his borrowing bag, his mouse pelt, and his hook near one of the removed walls.</p><p>[Did she bring them back here? She kept my things? It looks like they’re in okay condition. More importantly, it looks like I’m still in one piece.] Soren took an additional moment and looked over his arms and wiggled his toes. Yes. Still in one piece.</p><p>Soren knew he had to face the human again, but now he knew more. He swallowed dryly and looked up into the human’s face. He hadn’t noticed too many details about her other than her blue-grey eyes. Now, he could see faint, dark circles under her eyes. Her hair was tied into a tight, messy bun and her sleeves were rolled up. She was holding a small cup of water in one hand and the strange cotton covered rod in the other.</p><p>Somehow, and Soren couldn’t contribute it to one thing or another, but she seemed less menacing now – only a little though. She was still utterly terrifying, and Soren was still having a hard time identifying her motives. Before Soren could finish evaluating the circumstances and his returned predicament, the girl glanced away awkwardly and rubbed the back of her neck.</p><p>“Look, I want to apologize.” Her statement threw him completely off guard. She continued. “I was pretty rude to you and wasn’t thinking when I made those comments about knowing you can talk. You seemed pretty freaked out; and I can imagine all of this is pretty scary for you. Waking up and basically seeing a giant can’t make a good morning.”</p><p>Soren couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It sounded like the human was expressing sympathy – trying to see things from his point of view. Was this real? Was it a trap? From what she said before to what she was saying now almost seemed to conflict. Soren pulled the blankets closer to him, as if covering parts of his body would make them invisible to the human. He had to think, but the throbbing in his head was making it difficult.</p><p>“So,” she said, snapping Soren’s attention back to her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Let’s just start over, okay?” She looked back into his hazel brown eyes, and he could find no malice in that moment. [No!] Soren scolded himself. [Don’t let your guard down. If this is a trick, I need to stay sharp.] Soren clenched his jaw and stiffened his features, trying to remain neutral. His action, however, was immediately countered by a loud growl from his insides. He winced and tried covering up the sound by wrapping his arms around his midsection. This didn’t go unnoticed by the human.</p><p>“Hang on. I’ll be right back with something to eat,” she said softly before standing and leaving the room.</p><p>Soren leaned his head backwards against the cardboard wall, letting out a pent-up sigh. [What is this human playing at?] Soren tried thinking clearly, closing his eyes to rest them while he thought. [This is the second time she put me here, but she changed the box. Did she make it easier for me to get out? Or did she make it easier to see in from her bed?]</p><p>He heard a few quick taps and opened his eyes. There was the human holding several items in her hands including a bowl, a small plate, and a cup. For a brief moment, the thought crossed Soren’s mind that he might be part of the human’s meal; but that didn’t seem to be the case. She set her things down on the table about a foot away, and now Soren could see a small package of crackers and a few thimbles on the plate along with a long, thin plastic tube that Soren thought looked like what the humans called an eye dropper.</p><p>He watched as the human took the thin eyedropper and dipped it into the bowl, then into the thimble. She then took one of the crackers and pressed it between her fingers, crunching it into smaller fragments. Soren couldn’t help but shudder and imagine how easy it would be to snap his bones like that cracker. She then placed the thimble and the cracker pieces onto the small plate and brought it within arms reach of him.</p><p>Initially, he shied away from the contents and the human hand merely six or so inches away from him. Then, when her hand retracted, the wafting smell of food hit him. His insides growled at him again. His hesitancy to take the food was immediately cancelled when he watched the human begin eating from the same bowl she filled his thimble with.</p><p>It took effort, but he took up a cracker fragment and ate slowly, savoring the taste and the instant energy it gave him. He had been sick from eating too fast when he was young after missing meals, and he wasn’t about to make the same mistakes. His mind began to clear, and the pounding was already subsiding.</p><p>He then took the thimble, inhaling the warm liquid, and was struck with a realization. The liquid smelled familiar, but he couldn’t place where. He took a cautious sip. The liquid warmed his insides like he hadn’t experienced for months; but more than that was the aftertaste.</p><p>This was the same as when he woke up after his leg was injured, and again after waking up just now. Soren nearly dropped the thimble. [Did… the human feed me while I was unconscious?] He shook his thoughts away. He couldn’t think about it now. Regaining strength was the most important thing at the moment. Besides, whatever it was tasted amazing and was still warm.</p><p>In silence, the two of them ate a very tense, but manageable, meal. Soren now played with the edge of the thimble with one hand while finishing another cracker fragment with the other. He was now faced with a dilemma.</p><p>What was he going to do now? It was obvious he couldn’t manage on his own – at least not now. Another obvious to him was that the human wanted – or needed – him alive for whatever she had in mind if that was anything at all. It would be so easy to crush him or lock him in a cage at this point in time. Even if she wanted to pick him up with her bare hands, he could do nothing about it.</p><p>Being at the mercy of a human was a borrower’s worst nightmare, but that’s not what Soren’s instincts were telling him. If she wanted him dead, she would have already done it. If she wanted him trapped, he would be in a cage and not a partially torn down cardboard box. She had already caught him escaping and had done nothing to stop him. There were a million things that could have happened, and yet he was being fed and bandaged by this being.</p><p>Soren had to play this carefully if he wanted to survive. If his instincts were correct, his brothers wouldn’t want to leave the whole apartment complex. Brady would have moved them further in and possibly up a floor. If he wanted to find them – return to Dorian and Rey – he needed to think strategically and carefully.</p><p>To do this and to ensure the human would continue to help him, he needed to break a few borrower rules intentionally. It was a terrifying notion, but he had to try; and he hoped that, when the time came, he could manage to escape again. He raised his eyes to the human’s, managing to catch her gaze almost instantly. He looked away nervously. His heart began pounding harder and faster as he acknowledged the magnitude of what he was about to do. He took one last calming breath before raising his voice to speak.</p><p>“Th… Thank you,” said Soren. He hated that he initially stuttered when addressing the human. He didn’t need to look up to see the human’s eyes widen slightly. She brought the bowl down into her lap.</p><p>“You’re welcome,” she muttered in reply. Soren shifted uncomfortably as her gaze did not leave him. There was a long, awkward pause as the air in the apartment kicked on. “I’m Ashlynn. What’s your name?” Soren bit his lower lip. Did he respond to the human and give out something personal like that? He inhaled shakily.</p><p>“Soren,” he said staring down at his thimble. “My name is Soren.” The woman’s lip turned upward in a thoughtful grin.</p><p>“You weren’t so keen on having a discussion before. What changed your mind?” The question was a challenging one, and Soren wasn’t sure how he wanted to answer it. [She’s had to think of it already. It would look bad if I tried to lie.]</p><p>“I… don’t see the point in pretending when you already know,” said Soren. He hoped the human couldn’t hear the way his voice tremored as he spoke. His heart beat rapidly in his neck. His body felt like it was on pins and needles. She shrugged.</p><p>“Makes sense I guess,” she replied. Soren felt as though his heart was beating air by the way it fluttered in his chest.</p><p>“Besides,” Soren dared to continue. “I have some questions for you.” The girl seemed surprised but gave the go-ahead with a nod. Soren knew he had to be careful to not give anything away about borrowers, but there were some things that he needed to know – regardless of what might happen.</p><p>“R… right…. H… how long was I unconscious?” asked Soren. He didn’t think the human would agree to answer his questions; and who knew if she would be honest. In between thoughts, he wanted to gasp for air. He felt himself panicking each time he glanced up at the human.</p><p>“Well, you were only out for a couple hours this past time. You were on the counter in the kitchen. The first time, you were out for three days. Well, mostly. I found you in the evening of the first day and you woke up this afternoon,” replied Ashlynn. Soren hung his head and clenched his fists. [Three days? He was unconscious and feverish for three days? And in the care of a human? At least the abandoned camp made more sense. Three days would have been more than enough time to relocate.]</p><p>“Did that answer your question?” asked Ashlynn, partially startling Soren out of his spiraling mind. Timidly, he nodded. She simply smiled back. “Good. Any others?” Soren thought for a moment. Knowing he was out for three days told him everything he needed to know.</p><p>He knew his brothers were completely relocated, but he didn’t know where. He knew he was once again with a human, though he was beginning to wonder what the human may have in store for him. He knew the human had been careful and tended to him for three days. Whatever she wanted from him, she needed him alive – and that was essential information.</p><p>“So…” Ashlynn hesitated as Soren once again was pulled from his thoughts. He glanced up at her momentarily. “What happens now?”</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Negotiations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Soren and Ashlynn elect to have a tense conversation on what to do next; and Soren makes a few observations he wasn't expecting.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Of all the reactions available to him, Soren never expected himself to start laughing; disbelievingly, but laughing. It wasn’t a heartfelt chuckle, but it was more or less a breathy exhalation spasming with the shaking of his body. He looked down shaking his head, as if this motion would dismiss his initial response. Ashlynn’s silence denied him the relief he so desperately wanted. He glanced back up at Ashlynn, an amused and stunned expression on his face.</p><p>“That’s not really up to me, is it,” Soren stated. His confusion rubbed off on Ashlynn as she stared at him for several seconds. “You’re joking, right? I don’t <em>really </em>have a say in what happens to me at this point.”</p><p>“Why not?” asked Ashlynn, a slight hesitation in her voice. “Is it because I’m bigger than you?” Soren was silent and watched as it sank into Ashlynn’s mind. “You think you’re trapped here?”</p><p>“I… am though, right? I mean…” Soren’s voice faltered as Ashlynn cut in.</p><p>“Sorry, sweetie, but you’re the one who came back here after I watched you leave. If you had the strength to stand or, heaven forbid, if you asked for help from me, I wouldn’t stop you and would do what I could. So, whatever this ‘trapped’ feeling you’re getting is all on you pal; and I don’t appreciate you accusing me of being some kind of people snatcher or captor.”</p><p>Soren couldn’t believe his ears for a moment. [She can’t be serious. She has me in a box and my leg is broken. But…] Soren glanced back up into her eyes. Try as he might, he could sense no ill will, no malice or menacing presence, coming from Ashlynn. His gut feeling which had protected him for so many years was either sicker than the rest of him or she was telling the truth. Both were equally possible.</p><p>[But… I did come back here; and she’s taken care of me twice now for who knows how long. Would she really let me leave? Again? No. What if it’s a trick? I don’t want to make her mad, but that would probably be the quickest way to determine her intentions.]</p><p>“So, if I asked, you would help me leave?” asked Soren, pushing himself up slightly against the box. Ashlynn shrugged.</p><p>“I don’t see why not,” she replied. Soren bit his lip. He needed to think quickly to ensure his relative protection.</p><p>“And, if I asked, I could lay some ground rules?” asked Soren hesitantly. Ashlynn nodded. “And you’d follow them?” Ashlynn partially rolled her eyes and sighed, an action which made Soren’s hair stand on end in preparation for whatever was going on in her mind. He flinched back involuntarily as she looked at him again.</p><p>“Yes,” she muttered. “So, what are these ground rules?” Soren’s heart was pounding against his chest at this point. His breath halted in his throat. [I can’t make too many, or else she won’t want to abide by them. Hit the essentials. I can do this.]</p><p>“First,” he said, summoning what courage he could. “You can’t ask anything about me. What I am, where I’m from, nothing.” Soren watched Ashlynn’s eyes narrow, but she didn’t say anything.</p><p>“Second, don’t… touch or grab me, please.” Just the thought sent chills down his spine. As Ashlynn opened her mouth and raised a finger to interject, Soren felt a compulsion to continue. “At least!... not without permission.” Ashlynn closed her mouth, curling her finger back, and set it in her lap silently.</p><p>[She’s losing patience already; or, at the very least, she doesn’t like the rules. I have to wrap this up quickly. Blast it! I wish I had more time.]</p><p>“Finally, when the time comes, you let me go on my way – wherever that may be.” Soren knew there were too many Borrower rules broken at this point to care about them – speaking to a human being the primary one. Be that as it may, the circumstances could not be changed. Soren, body tense, watched as Ashlynn leaned forward and placed her head in her hand as her elbow rested on her knee.</p><p>“This deal seems really one sided,” she grumbled. Soren’s breathing increased rapidly. A new wave of nausea swirled inside him. [She’s not going for it. I knew it – I…] “I have a slight counter-offer which should work for both of us. For your first point, you said I can’t ask any questions about you. Does that mean all questions? Like, for example, how are you feeling? That’s a question about you. What if you’re in severe pain from your leg and I can get you medicine or something that will help? A question about you prompts this, right?”</p><p>Soren had to admit that no questions about him did jeopardize his recovery. He knew enough about first aid to patch up scrapes, bruises, and busted noses; legs and arms were more difficult.</p><p>“My proposition is this,” Ashlynn continued, pulling a reluctant Soren into negotiating. “I get to ask you questions, but you don’t have to answer them. Or, better yet, if I listen to your requests without incident, then I get to ask a question – like a reward. You don’t have to answer, but I still get to ask. What do you think?”</p><p>Soren bit his lip as he contemplated quickly. All things considering, it was a minor request which mostly adhered to his initial rule about asking personal questions. There was no way around it. Even though he suspected he could say no, Soren wanted to ensure each interaction was a smooth one. Seeing no reason why Ashlynn couldn’t ask and he avoid responding, Soren nodded.</p><p>“That sounds fair enough,” muttered Soren. Ashlynn nodded in return.</p><p>“Good,” she said softly. There was a buzzing sound, which jolted both of them out of their unspoken staring contest. Her attention was instantly redirected to a strange, boxy device. She held up a finger and gestured to the door. “I have to take this. I’ll be back. Oh, just so you can mentally prepare, we’ll need to check your bandages and make sure your leg is healing straight.”</p><p>With that, Ashlynn left the room with the device and Soren was alone.</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>Soren didn’t like the idea of being handled or touched, but the thought of dealing with his leg himself was slightly more unnerving. He had a limited knowledge of broken bones and, from what he could tell, Ashlynn had more resources and wherewithal to do it. He could hear her in the other room speaking loudly. Whatever was going on, it was angering her.</p><p>[Do I really want to say no to an angry human? Not really. Do I really want an angry human working on my leg? Not really.] Concluding it would be in his best interest, Soren reluctantly made up his mind to allow Ashlynn to help him with his leg. Just as he did, Ashlynn entered the room with several large containers – at least, large from Soren’s perspective – and set them on the bed. Soren could see hooks and scissors and rolls of cloth as long as his leg.</p><p>“Alright,” sighed Ashlynn. As Soren looked at her, he could’ve sworn that her hands were shaking slightly. “Question of the day, would you like my help in changing your bandages and checking your leg?” Soren nodded, feeling a sickening acid in the back of his throat. Ashlyn gave him a hard look.</p><p>“You know, you can say no if you want,” she said softly as she turned her gaze away.</p><p>“I know,” replied Soren. “But if it’s as bad as I think it is, I…” Soren didn’t need to say anything else. Somehow, Ashlynn knew how Soren wanted to finish his sentence and approached cautiously.</p><p>“It’s okay. If you could, I need you to uncover your leg,” instructed Ashlynn.</p><p>For a human and for being an angry human not too long ago, Ashlynn had a very delicate touch. Soren couldn’t help but recoil as her looming hands and outstretched fingers reached for him. It was pure instinct, shying away the way he did, but Soren had to admit he expected worse. His head swirled and his breath was rapid, body screaming for him to get away. He resisted the urge, barely.</p><p>The way it went was simple. There were a few placed Ashlynn left so she could easily remove the bandages. Soren, after several unintentional flinches, elected to lay on his back, close his eyes, and wait for Ashlynn to finish unwrapping his leg before looking. Each flinch sent a nauseating pulse coursing through him and his leg ached and throbbed. Laying back and closing his eyes seemed to alleviate her nerves despite feeling the occasional pressure of Ashlynn’s finger-tips on his leg.</p><p>When she had unwrapped his leg, he managed to catch a glimpse of the injury for the first time. Based only on visual appearance, it was not the worse injury he possessed. The area was bruised and swollen, but nothing protruded from his leg. There was a bandage near his shin where it had been pinched under the bar and had broken skin. The air itself stung his leg, making it feel like tiny needles.</p><p>Borrowers were sturdy – Soren was well aware of this fact – and injuries tended to not last long on him or any other Borrower he encountered in his life. Still, the damage done would leave him out of commission for longer than he wanted.</p><p>With Ashlynn’s help, Soren helped reinforce and stabilize the brace. Ashlynn explained, while wrapping his leg, that she was hesitant to wrap his leg while he was unconscious because she didn’t want to cut off blood flow from his leg. Now that he could provide feedback, she could reinforce it and make it stronger. More importantly, it was reinforced to the point he felt confident enough to put pressure on it.</p><p>Soren, the entire time, tested limits. He paid attention to Ashlynn’s reaction when he winced or asked for a moment. Each time, she retracted her hands and patiently waited for the go-ahead; which Soren gave after a few seconds. Something else happened while he and Ashlynn worked in tandem – she didn’t seem overly uncomfortable or surprised that someone his size existed.</p><p>Soren dared not bring it up, but tucked it away. It made him wonder though; was he the first Borrower Ashlynn had ever encountered?</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Bottlecaps and Borrowers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Soren and Ashlynn have a conversation as Soren discovers more about his human host; but what does she discover about him?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The four days that followed were tense, but manageable. She evidently was able to work from the apartment as she saw fit, and so was more present than Soren initially anticipated. He suspected there were times she was in the apartment when he was borrowing, which was somewhat unnerving.</p><p>Thankfully, she didn’t hover Soren was able to spend time resting quietly and Ashlynn kept to herself except during meals when she brought Soren part of what she prepared for herself.</p><p>His original clothing was in disgusting, unrecoverable tatters, so Ashlynn had brought him some fabric pieces so he could fashion a new shirt and pants which were easier to maneuver in with his cast. On one of the days, she brought a bowl of warmed water and a towel so he could clean himself – something he was immensely grateful for.</p><p>During these four days, Ashlynn took advantage of asking him questions; however, the questions were random and seemingly meaningless. Ashlynn asked simple things like his preference of food and if he liked his current sleeping arrangement on the soft bundle of cloth. She asked if he needed any supplies to keep him occupied or if he would rather be placed somewhere else other than her bedside table.</p><p>Soren was reluctant to utter any other words to Ashlynn after their deal – at first – but he could find no reason to refuse after the first day; and being asked simple seemingly meaningless questions in some way reminded Soren of his younger brothers. There was nothing revealing about borrower kind by telling Ashlynn his favorite color was a pale mint green. Their conversations were minimal, but still present.</p><p>He hated to admit it, but speaking to someone felt nice and he noticed the tremor in his voice and shaking in his torso dissipating gradually. He maintained his guard and refused to take anything for granted, but his breath wasn’t hitching the way it used to – for better or worse.</p><p>Also during those four days, Soren had something on his mind; a dangerous question he wanted the answer to and yet he was wary of what answer he may receive. Did Ashlynn already know about borrowers? And, if so, how?</p><p>Each time Ashlynn came into the room for something or another, Soren felt the urge to ask; yet refrained every time. Perhaps it was a lingering apprehension toward humans; or maybe he didn’t want to know the answer.</p><p>It wasn’t until dinner on the fifth day that Ashlynn sighed after giving him several long, passive stares and directed her full attention to him.</p><p>“What?” she asked with a touch of indignance. Soren, who hadn’t realized he was staring, looked down at his thimble quickly. “Naw, don’t give me that. You’ve been staring for days like you want to say something. Did I break one of the rules? Am I in trouble? What?”</p><p>Soren, hearing some tension in her voice, felt a nervousness creeping back over him. He knew he didn’t like to be watched, but it was a strange realization that a human could be unnerved with the same action. Feeling like he didn’t want to make circumstances worse, he cleared his throat and elected to ask his question.</p><p>“It’s…” Soren readjusted, finding it hard to find the right words in the moment. “It’s just that you don’t seem that… surprised at seeing someone… like me.” Ashlynn’s brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed in confusion for a moment.</p><p>“Like you?” she asked.</p><p>“Yeah, like me. You know, a B…” Soren caught himself before he said the word “Borrower.” He took a breath as his chest tightened. “A tiny. Someone my size.” He hated to call himself “tiny,” but it was the first thing he could think of that described his form next to Ashlynn. For a moment, Soren worried that Ashlynn wasn’t taking the information well and that, possibly, she thought he was implying that she had done something to a Borrower in the past; but, before he could explain, he watched her features soften.</p><p>Ashlynn leaned back slightly, her eyes distant, and she sighed. “No, I haven’t come across anyone your size.” Soren found himself sighing in relief while his mind continued to feel muddled – until Ashlyn began to continue. “At least… not really.”</p><p>Soren’s eyes snapped up to Ashlynn. [Not really? What does ‘<em>not really’</em> mean?] Ashlynn noticed Soren’s change and voluntarily continued explaining.</p><p>“My great-grandmother on my dad’s side lived on her own and was convinced that there were, as she described them, ‘tiny people’ who lived in the walls. She said she saw them and heard them. I was really young at the time and she was a lot older and was suffering from memory loss. I didn’t think anything of it, but,” Ashlynn paused, pressing her lips together until they were a very thin line.</p><p>“But?” pressed Soren, his curiosity getting the better of him. Ashlynn blinked away the memory and looked over to Soren, not holding his gaze for long.</p><p>“But, I thought I saw some… one… once.” Ashlynn’s words hung in the air. [So… she has seen a Borrower before.] “It was only for a second and I was really young. I’m still not sure what I saw; but, after hearing my great-grandmother talk, it sounds like she wasn’t wrong.” Ashlynn inhaled deeply and sighed, deep in thought and nostalgia. Soren looked away, now feeling slightly intrusive, began wondering what a great-grandmother was.</p><p>Was she a favorite grandmother? Was she better that the other in some way? Soren didn’t know and felt uneasy at asking another question. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear Ashlynn ask him a question and a sharp snap brought him out of his trance.</p><p>“What?” asked Soren, dazed.</p><p>“I said what were your great-grandparents like?” asked Ashlynn. “Did you know them?” Soren had to think for a moment, feeling a knot form in his stomach. Ashlynn was getting dangerously close to personal information; yet, at the same time, she seemed to already suspect Soren wasn’t the only one of his kind in existence.</p><p>“I… I don’t think I have one of those,” he muttered. “I mean, I only knew my dad’s father, so I guess he would be my great-grandparent.” Ashlynn’s expression exploded from concerned to highly amused. She pressed her hand to her face and began to laugh. Soren, completely confused, felt himself bristle as she must be laughing at his expense without him noticing.</p><p>“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t be laughing. No,” said Ashlynn as she gasped for air, an immense grin on her face. “A great-grandparent is your grandparent’s parents. Not a favorite.”</p><p>“Oh,” muttered Soren. “I… well then, no. I didn’t know my great-grandfather.” He didn’t realize he folded his arms across his chest.</p><p>“Aww, no. Don’t be like that. I said I was sorry. Really,” said Ashlynn. Soren, still looking down, shrugged. He couldn’t help but think about what little he knew about his grandfather and how all of that wouldn’t be possible now. He found himself thinking of his brothers and wondering where they were and if they would remember him in their stories to their children.</p><p>“It… it’s okay. Just another reminder that…” Soren felt his throat constrict involuntarily. He cleared it nervously and shifted as his eyes began burning. He hurriedly rubbed his averted eyes. “Never mind.” Ashlynn, now very quiet, stared at him curiously and no longer in amusement. They shared silence for a time before Ashlynn broke the barrier.</p><p>“What did you call him?” she asked. “Your grandfather, I mean. Did you call him gramps, or grandfather?” Soren had to think about it for a moment, recalling the faded memory.</p><p>“Pops,” he muttered. “I called him Pops, and he always had a soda pop shield that he let me play with sometimes; but that’s been years ago.”</p><p>“The metal kind?” asked Ashlynn. Soren let a smile tug at the corner of his lip.</p><p>“Yeah,” he replied. They exchanged a thoughtful look – one Soren hadn’t had experienced in a long time – and let the silence surround them again. After a few minutes, Ashlynn readjusted and grabbed the dishes from dinner. Before leaving, she glanced back at Soren.</p><p>“Do… you want to come with me to the kitchen? I mean… I don’t know if you want company or if you’d rather be alone.” Ashlynn’s offer took Soren by surprise. He thought for a moment. The same apprehension he felt toward Ashlynn was quickly dissipating, but why he didn’t know. “I wouldn’t touch your or anything – rules and stuff. I’d just bring the box and let you sit or stand or whatever.” Soren swallowed dryly.</p><p>“I… no thank you,” he said, instantly feeling guilty at the pained look in Ashlynn’s eyes. “Wait!” Ashlynn stopped dead in her tracks at Soren’s sudden shout. “What I meant was… no thank you… for now. I’m just a bit tired now and want to get some sleep. But… maybe tomorrow?”</p><p>Ashlynn said nothing. She barely glanced back to catch his eye, but Soren could have sworn he saw a smile crest over the edge of her face and her head was held a little higher as she left the room.</p><p>Soren, unsure of what possessed him, laid back on the makeshift bed. What was he doing? Agreeing to let the human take him somewhere? That was insane! Still, Soren couldn’t help but feel like something happened during their conversation this day. He slipped into sleep in an instant and welcomed the abyss behind his eyes.</p><p>He didn’t hear Ashlynn come in or get ready for bed. He didn’t notice when she awoke and went to the kitchen for the morning. What he did notice was the metal bottlecap from some red soda bottle sitting near his bed. Soren pulled the hefty piece closer and inspected it, instantly nostalgic. Emotion pricked the corners of his eyes and a single thought crept into his mind as he wiped his eyes. [Okay… maybe she’s not so bad for a human.]</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Kitchen Conversations and Catastrophes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Soren and Ashlynn have officially formed a timid bond; but what happens when a new contender is added to the mix?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were faking being injured.” Ashlynn’s snarky yet playful comment wafted with the smells of dinner through the air to Soren, who had just successfully climbed down from his box on the ledge onto the counter.</p><p>He smirked at her as he took up his walking stick and hobbled to a more advantageous place to watch Ashlynn wield a very sharp knife. It had been nine days since their conversation about coming to the kitchen for company.</p><p>The agreement was simple. Soren agreed to come to the kitchen in the box as long as Ashlynn adhered to their initial rules Soren laid. Ashlynn, wanting to keep Soren off of the immediate counter so he wouldn’t accidentally get hurt, laid the ground rule that he was supposed to stay on the far counter near the bread box.</p><p>They both agreed, leaving them to their current circumstance of Soren climbing down from the breadbox to the counter and Ashlynn watching while making dinner. Soren, now mere inches from his entrance to the walls, stared yearningly at it. Ashlynn was right about one thing – he was a lot better than he was a few weeks ago – but still not good enough to survive on his own.</p><p>It killed him being so close and yet so far from freedom and independence – and yet, at the same time, it didn’t. During this compiled time of two weeks, Soren had to admit that residing with Ashlynn wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened to him.</p><p>“Right, you caught me,” Soren muttered as he leaned against the wall, placing the majority of his weight onto this uninjured leg. He folded his arms against his chest, not realizing that his tone and body language were clear indicators to his human counterpart. Ashlynn, only beginning to get a glimpse into Soren’s already subtle expressions, stopped cutting to look at him.</p><p>“Hey, you okay?” she asked. Soren closed his eyes and rubbed his knuckle into the corners. Feeling her eyes on him, he loosely wrapped his arms around his torso a little tighter as he nodded.</p><p>“Yes,” he replied after a moment. “Just… thinking.” Ashlynn’s eyes glided over from him to the electrical socket near the bread box. She remembered the second time she found him, passed out on the counter near the box with the cover slightly ajar. A knowing look glazed her eyes for a moment. In an effort to relieve the tension, she set the knife down onto the cutting board, took a step back, and leaned across the opposite counter near the sink.</p><p>“You know… you can leave if you want,” she said softly. It caught Soren off guard and his eyes flicked up to see Ashlynn looking at him earnestly. “I know it’s part of the rules and everything, and I don’t know what’s going on in your head, but I thought I’d say it again. It’s been a while since either of us mentioned it.”</p><p>Soren wasn’t sure where this came from until he snapped out of his stupor and glanced at his body position. He unfolded his arms from his torso and glanced away, now slightly embarrassed. He hoped she couldn’t tell that his cheeks were burning a light shade of pink. Soren’s mom always said that he always turned a light shade of pink when he was embarrassed.</p><p>“Yeah, I know. I… Sorry, I was just thinking.” Soren reached up and scratched his scalp, ruffling his hair which was beginning to grow to an unruly length. [I’ll have to cut my hair at some point] he thought passively as he subconsciously tugged at the ends of his hair. He couldn’t help but think of the way his mom would tug at the ends of his hair when he needed a trim. The thought made him smile.</p><p>“Thinking? About what? How long your hair is?” teased Ashlynn as she approached the cutting board and resumed her work. Soren half laughed, half snorted and turned his attention to her.</p><p>“Is that your question for the day?” he asked rhetorically.</p><p>“Better not be! It’s a sorry excuse of a question,” returned Ashlynn. “But seriously, whatcha thinking about? You get this look on your face and for the life of me, I can’t tell what you’re thinking.”</p><p>“Is that a bad thing?” asked Soren. Ashlynn stopped chopping and sighed heavily.</p><p>“I guess not, but it seriously makes me curious,” moaned Ashlynn. “But, since you won’t answer what’s on your mind, let me ask another.” Soren thought about saying something else sassy or jokingly, but he didn’t want to frustrate her.</p><p>“I guess,” he sighed. “What is it?”</p><p>“How are you doing? I mean, how’s your leg and all that. Are you actually feeling better or putting on a brave face?” The way Ashlynn asked questions was blunt, but he could hear the sincerity and concern in her voice. He thought about the question before clearing his throat and responding.</p><p>“I’m doing well, I think. I mean, I haven’t broken a limb before, so I think it’s healing well. I can put more pressure on it and as long as I’m careful and don’t strain it, I should be completely healed in no time,” he said, feeling relatively confident his answer was truthful.</p><p>“Yeah, but how are you doing?” pressed Ashlynn as she swept the contents of the cutting board into a sizzling pan. “I mean, I don’t want to pry and you’ve got your rules; but… I mean… how are you holding up being here? Do… you have a family you miss or a group you’re waiting to get back to?”</p><p>Soren felt himself stiffen. He wanted to be careful how he answered this question. Ashlynn already knew there were other Borrowers, even if she didn’t know what they were called. He turned his head back to the edge of the counter and folded his arms across his chest. Seeing the question made him uncomfortable, Ashlynn shook her head and turned to the contents of the pan.</p><p>“It’s okay. You don’t have to…”</p><p>“I’m… doing alright. I mean, with the circumstances what they are I could be a lot worse,” interrupted Soren, surprising Ashlynn who instantly silenced herself. “I mean… I… do… have family… but I don’t know where they are or if they’re doing alright. I hope they are, but I don’t know.” Ashlynn’s pale, blue-green eyes stayed transfixed, her breath baited and completely stationary within her lungs; as if she were afraid that the smallest inhale would break the moment.</p><p>“That’s why I need to get better as fast as possible,” continued Soren. “I have to get back to them.” There was a long pause where neither of them spoke and the only sound that filled the air was the sizzling of the skillet. Ashlynn smiled warmly, which caught Soren’s attention.</p><p>“I’m sure they’re alright. If they’re half as stubborn and determined as you, they’re going to be okay.” Soren wasn’t sure what it was, but Ashlynn’s statement sent a radiating warmth through his chest, making him feel cautiously optimistic. He felt his cheeks reddening again.</p><p>Much to his horror, Ashlynn took notice this time. “Wha… Soren? Are you blushing?” Soren’s face reddened more as he tightened his folded arms.</p><p>“No,” he said indignantly. “It’s warm here near the stove.”</p><p>“You’re totally blushing!” Ashlynn giggled as she leaned forward to see his face better. Soren tried turning his face away, but the damage was already done.</p><p>“So what if I am!” His shouted remark was not half as intimidating as he wanted it to be. Ashlynn continued giggling, pretending to stifle her amusement. “That’s it. I’m not answering any more of your questions. This is what I get for answering you.”</p><p>“Awww, don’t be like that Soren,” whined Ashlynn playfully as she turned back toward the sink with the used cutting board, still chuckling to herself.</p><p>“No. There are rules for a reason. I should have stuck to them myself,” said Soren defiantly.</p><p>“Soren…”</p><p>“Forget it. I’m not answering any more questions today.” It was then that Soren noticed that Ashlynn wasn’t laughing anymore. Then, what was initially gratitude for the silence evolved into a tense and odd pause.</p><p>“Soren…” There was something in her voice. Something odd. He couldn’t place it. He glanced up and saw Ashlynn taking a few cautious steps backwards away from the sink, her eyes transfixed on the ground at the corner of the wall. There was an electricity in the air – an unspoken tension.</p><p>“What?” he asked involuntarily, a strange nervousness swirling in his gut.</p><p>“There’s… someone else… over here.” Her words hung in the air. “Oh… oh gosh… Soren, they’re hurt… really bad. I… I don’t…” Soren felt his pulse in every fiber of his body. He seized his walking stick and hobbled to the edge of the counter.</p><p>[Someone? Someone was hurt? Another Borrower?] Soren reached the edge, his nerves vibrating and on edge within every part of his body. He followed Ashlynn’s now pointing finger and caught a glimpse of a small figure collapsed on the ground.</p><p>Soren recognized him instantly. Before he could stop himself, he called out to the collapsed and shivering figure on the ground as loud as he could.</p><p>“DORIAN!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Plea</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Soren, after seeing his brother stumbling forward in Ashlynn's apartment, must take leaps of faith to bring his family together once again.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His heart seized in his chest, the wind escaping in a wheezing breath. There was no mistaking him – the Borrower kneeling on the ground was Soren’s younger brother, Dorian.</p><p>Soren collapsed to his knees, eyes not leaving his brother. From where he was, it was hard to see the finer details. What Soren could see, however, were the dots of some dark liquid leading up to the figure of his brother.</p><p>An overwhelming panic seized control. What happened? How hurt was he? Where had Dorian and Rey been for the past two weeks? And where was the youngest brother, Rey?</p><p>Soren wished he had his hook at his side or, better yet, that he could simply leap off of the edge and fly to his brother’s side like some fairy tale. Sadly, that wasn’t the case, and he was bound to walk and bound to his own injuries. Doing the only thing he could, he called out to his rother as loud as he could.</p><p>“Dorian! Dorian can you hear me?” He strained his ears and focused, barely picking up the sounds of gasping sobs. The sounds tugged at his heart and made his chest ache. “Dorian, listen to me! You’re going to be alright! Hang on… I’ll…” Every solution Soren came up with left him with one severely obvious problem – he couldn’t get down off of the counter; not on his own.</p><p>Soren heard another heart wrenching sob. He clenched his fists and pounded one of them against the countertop in frustration. He knew what he had to do, and he didn’t like it.</p><p>He pealed his eyes from his brother’s visibly trembling form and directed his attention to Ashlynn, who had not said anything and remained as stationary as possible. Her body was tense, eyes fixed on the small injured person a few feet away from her on the ground. A look of barely restrained sorrow in her eyes.</p><p>“Ashlynn, you have to help me get down there. Please.” Ashlynn’s attention flickered between the young injured Borrower on the ground to Soren.</p><p>“Wh-what?” she asked in a partial daze.</p><p>“Please!” Soren pleaded. “There’s no time. Just grab me and put me on the ground!” Soren wasn’t sure what possessed him in the moment. Perhaps the concern for his brother overrode his own apprehension of being held willingly by a human. After a few seconds, Ashlynn shook the glaze from her eyes and glanced over to the box.</p><p>“Are you… sure? What about your rules?” she asked hesitantly. Soren heard his brother’s whimper and steeled his nerves.</p><p>“Ashlynn,” Soren’s voice broke in his throat as he said her name. “Please.” Ashlynn nodded stiffly and, with a nervous tremor to her hand and her eyes, reached out.</p><p>“Right.” Ashlynn didn’t grab him, thankfully, and instead laid her hand palm up for him. Soren swallowed dryly and forced himself up just enough to stumble forward onto Ashlynn’s open palm.</p><p>Soren’s entire body shuddered when he realized what he had just done. The sensations hit him simultaneously. The warmth and softness of her palm against his. The subtle beating of her heart which he could feel in the veins his hands now rested on. Being able to see each individual line constructing her fingerprint. Most of all, feeling the way her hand shook as she quite literally took his life into her hands.</p><p>Every instinct pulsed energy into his body, both to leap off of the hand of the human and to aid his brother. A tingling sensation rippled through every nerve and made him shiver involuntarily.</p><p>Before he could convince himself to address Ashlynn again, his stomach dropped and his heart hit the top of his throat as Ashlynn lowered him from the counter onto the ground mere inches from his brother. She was careful, yes; but she still moved much faster than Soren was used to.</p><p>Now that he was closer to his brother, he could see the full extent of the damage. Along Dorian’s back were four long, but thin, scratches which had slashed and torn his shirt open. There were several small puncture wounds on the front and back of his arms and legs along with five larger and much deeper puncture wounds on his torso. There were also bruises forming all over Dorian’s body, which Soren noted was noticeably thinner than the last time he saw him.</p><p>Soren stumbled forward off of Ashlynn’s palm, now clearly hearing Dorian’s sobs and whimpers. Dorian was on his hands and knees, head down and not looking up. Seeing a shadow approach brought about another bout of sobs until Dorian caught a glimpse of a reassuring, Borrower sized hand.</p><p>Dorian looked up weakly, tears lining his not as round face. His hair was noticeably longer and the spark in his eyes had dulled. Soren could still see a glimmer of his younger brother remaining, but it was fading fast with fear.</p><p>“S…Soren?” Dorian sniffed as he gazed into his older brother’s eyes. Soren smiled warmly, yet unable to disguise his increasingly overwhelming concern at Dorian’s injuries. Dorian, without warning, lunged forward, tears pouring from the corner of his eyes, and tackled Soren in a tight embrace.</p><p>For the first time in two weeks, Soren felt his body relax and enjoy the warmth of another body his own size. He pulled Dorian close and pressed his cheek against the top of his sibling’s head. The moment did not last as it was shattered by a fearful, whimpering scream from Dorian as he remembered how close the human was to him and Soren.</p><p>Dorian instinctually began to pull Soren back toward the wall fruitlessly, whimpering and trembling all the while. Soren, in response, pulled Dorian closer.</p><p>“Shhh… it’s okay. You’re okay. We’re okay. Shhh… She’s not going to hurt us. I won’t let her hurt us,” soothed Soren just barely above a whisper just before raising his hand and motioning for Ashlynn to take a few steps backwards. Dorian, wide-eyed, watched as his oldest sibling waved the human away with his hand – especially when she listened and backed further away into the kitchen.</p><p>“S… Sor—en, t…tha…t’s a human,” stammered Dorian in between sniffs and snot.</p><p>“I know,” said Soren reassuringly. “And I’ll explain everything as soon as I can; but, Dorian, you have to tell me – what happened to you? Where did you get these wounds? Does Brady know? Does Rey know? Is Rey okay?”</p><p>Dorian’s light blue orbs for eyes welled up with tears again and another bout of uncontrollable sobs. Soren felt his insides drop. He felt a numbness spreading through his chest and shutting down his mind.</p><p>Rey. Little Rey – the timid and curious and always chasing behind. The one who was quick to follow and first to observe. The notorious cover stealer.</p><p>No.</p><p>Soren would not accept it – not until Dorian said it.</p><p>“Dorian!” Soren clasped the boy’s face in his hands, ensuring their eyes locked. A sickening feeling churned his insides. “Is… Rey…” He had to brace himself. Soren didn’t want to know, but he had to hear it. “Is Rey dead?”</p><p>Dorian’s sopping wet face was slick in Soren’s hand. He tried to look away from Soren’s determined gaze, but the eldest held firm. Soren’s voice was not angry, but it was direct and firm. Soren watched with baited breath as Dorian shook his head from side to side with a shrug. [No. He said no. He’s not dead.]</p><p>“He was alive when you saw him last?” asked Soren. Dorian had to think, but eventually nodded.</p><p>“He’s alive.” Soren’s statement came out in a relieved sigh. The next question that came to mind was just as difficult. “Then… where is he?” Dorian sniffed, shoulders hunched as he wrapped his arms around his bruising torso.</p><p>“The old human got him.” Dorian broke into another round of sobs. “W-w-we went to borrow food, but we got turned around. We… went into the old lady’s room, but the door was open.”</p><p>Soren’s eyes widened. Dorian’s wounds suddenly made more sense. The shape of the scratches and the puncture wounds were all signatures of one particularly tenacious feline familiar to Soren. Soren sank to his side, relinquishing Dorian’s face.</p><p>“So,” muttered Soren. “He’s been seen and is in a cage?”</p><p>Dorian’s voice, choked, managed to stammer. “I… don’t know. H-h-he was caught in something really sticky and c… could… couldn’t get out.”</p><p>“A glue trap,” muttered Soren, familiar with these and their near impossibility to get free. “He… fell in one?” Dorian buried his face into his hands. Then, he wailed at the top of his lungs.</p><p>“I-I-I tried to get him free! I c…cou…couldn’t… pull him free! It... it… it happened so-so fast Soren!” Soren, snapped back, a swelling protectivity taking control and he pulled Dorian into his chest.</p><p>“I know. I know.” He said over and over. “You were so brave. Dorian, I’m so glad to see you. I’m so glad you’re okay.” The reassuring phrases were beginning to calm the boy, but Soren could see that it was exhaustion and the beginning of blood loss that was really taking its toll on Dorian.</p><p>Soren, completely torn, pulled Dorian further into his lap; and Dorian did not refuse. [There’s a chance. There’s a chance Rey is okay. There’s a chance he’s safe. I can’t leave Dorian. I can’t even rescue Rey the way I am now.] Soren glanced to his right, eyes lingering at the only person who Soren could turn to – who he had been turning to – and who he would continue to turn to.</p><p>“Ashlynn.”</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>Ashlynn, for the vast majority of this conversation, adhered to her instructions of staying back in the kitchen. Closer to the end, however, she inched forward and sat on the ground in the hopes that Soren would properly introduce them. She picked up on a handful of phrases – Rey, trap, captured, human. Their voices were so soft that Ashlynn couldn’t pick up on much.</p><p>Now… Soren went from holding his brother to cradling his head in his lap. The little guy, Dorian, didn’t look well. He was pale and shivering. His clothes were ruined, which mattered significantly in winter. He was terrified, but had come anyway to his brother for help.</p><p>Now, Soren had turned and was looking at her – his hazel brown eyes staring pleadingly at her. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes.</p><p>“Ashlynn…” he said softly. “Please… save my little brothers.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Rescue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ashlynn now has a task, to help Soren save his brother, but can she deliver? Or is it too late?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been two long weeks since Ashlynn had found Soren trapped beneath the bar of a mouse trap. Since then, it had taken every ounce of effort to gain Soren’s favor. Even after bandaging his wounds, splinting his leg, giving him food and a place to sleep, and agreeing to his terms and conditions, Soren still seemed hesitant.</p><p>Patience was never Ashlynn’s strong suit – and it still wasn’t, but it was beginning to pay off. Soren was talking more and started accompanying her to the kitchen. She was starting to sense the smallest inkling of trust was blooming between her and the tiny human from the walls.</p><p>Now, seeing him kneeling on the ground with another even smaller person cradled in his arms and her picking up on fragmented whispers of conversation, a pang of sadness overwhelmed her. Soren always seemed sure and intelligent – level-headed when presented with an emergency; even if he was cautious and visibly nervous. This was not what she saw when he turned to her.</p><p>There were tears in his eyes. There was a hurt and a primal fear, but not for himself – for someone dear to him. The look in his face conveyed uncertainty and desperation. It didn’t suit him.</p><p>“Ashlynn.” Soren’s voice was soft and threatening to crack. She could see he was barely keeping himself composed on behalf of his brother. “Please… save my little brothers.”</p><p>Those few, simple words were all it took to send her into action. Ashlynn nodded, a determination burning in her eyes. She stood abruptly, making the one called Dorian flinch and whimper. Ashlynn didn’t have time to worry about that and instead concerned herself with making sure Soren had the necessary tools to bandage his brother. She had to trust he could handle one while she endeavored to help the other.</p><p>She took a clean dishrag and cut it into small strips Soren could manage while running a bowl of fresh, warm water. She grabbed it, ensuring the water wasn’t too hot, and set them on the ground near Soren.</p><p>“You need to make sure his wounds are clean before bandaging them,” she said while keeping her voice low. Compared to Soren, she was doing a poor job of keeping her tone even and calm. She wanted to be sensitive to the situation, but it sounded like time was of the essence. “You said brothers. This is one of them, right? Where’s the other? I didn’t hear.”</p><p>Dorian whimpered again and pushed his face into Soren’s bandaged leg.</p><p>“S-s-so-ren,” he stammered. “Th-th-e human… w-what’s she gonna d-do to Rey? A-are we c-cap-captured?” Ashlynn felt the familiar frustration that she experienced when first earning Soren’s trust, but bit her tongue. [There’s time for this later.] She thought.</p><p>Soren’s arms engulfed his brother as he pressed his cheek on the top of his head. “No. No, we’re not captured. She’s going to save him. She’s going to get him back. It’s going to be okay.” Soren unconsciously grabbed a fragment of cut cloth that Ashlynn had placed hear him and began wiping away the snot and tears from Dorian’s face.</p><p>Soren turned back to Ashlynn, his breathing becoming more rapid. “The older woman in the apartment near from yours; somewhere over there.” Soren gestured in a broad sweeping motion toward the other apartments. “She has a cat. I… I don’t know her name, but Dorian said that’s where they were. He’s caught in a glue trap. Dorian, is there anything else you can tell me?” Dorian sniffed and grasped the cloth near his face.</p><p>“H-he wa-was wearing the other m-m-mouse pelt. I… I th-thought it would help, like what you taught me,” he sniffed, his voice losing strength.</p><p>“Dorian said he was wearing the mouse pelt, like the one I was wearing,” said Soren to Ashlynn.</p><p>“Okay, last thing. Is there something I can say to him that would help calm him down? Or maybe help him know I’m not going to hurt him?” asked Ashlynn, preparing to stand and head out. Soren shook his head, the stress of the situation making his shoulders tense and tremble.</p><p>“Just bring him back, please,” said Soren softly. That was all she needed.</p><p>Ashlynn stood and stepped around them carefully before snagging her keys from the counter and leaving the apartment.</p><p>~~~~~~~~~</p><p>Soren watched Ashlynn leave, his mind a mess of emotions. He could only hope that she was able to find his youngest sibling and bring him safely back. Dorian’s sniff brought him back to the present.</p><p>“Come on, I have to clean these,” muttered Soren as he tugged himself to his feet and guided Dorian to the strip of cloth and bowl of water where he removed Dorian’s shirt and began cleaning the wounds. To his surprise, Dorian resisted slightly and stared at him with some unspoken, unsure look.</p><p>“Wh…what happened to you? D…did the human do something to you?” he asked. Soren dipped the cloth into the water and continued to clean the wounds.</p><p>“She didn’t do anything to me. She was actually helping me get better so I could leave and find you,” he said stiffly, trying to shake away his thoughts and focus on his brother. Dorian shifted uncomfortably and winced as Soren took his arm and ran the cloth over it.</p><p>“Dad said you’d be different,” muttered Dorian, tears welling up in his eyes once again. Soren’s jaw clenched as his set-aside, festering hatred for Brady instantly resurfaced. “He said you would be more trusting of the humans and that you’d be tricked into luring us out of the walls like bait. I… didn’t want to believe it… but…” Dorian used his free arm and covered his face as he broke into another round of sobs.</p><p>“Dorian,” said Soren firmly, but kindly. “I haven’t changed. I had to improvise in order to survive.” Soren took a shaky breath before continuing. “You know, she let me go once already and I went back our camp in the walls. You were already gone, but she did let me go.” Dorian’s eyes peeked up from his arm to stare at his brother.</p><p>“Really?” he asked. Soren nodded. “But… what if it’s a trick?” Soren smiled reassuringly.</p><p>“No one tricks your older brother; and I promised to take care of you no matter what. I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to go with you the first time. I promise that won’t happen again.”</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>Ashlynn was instantly hit with a burst of cold air as she threw the door open and stepped into the snowy exterior of the apartment complex. She knew exactly who Soren was referring to and made a beeline for her apartment.</p><p>Susan Bonmeyer, or Grandma Susie as she liked to say, was an elderly lady who lived on her own with her cat Jaida. She was useful when it came to mending and creating dresses and outfits and was always kind. It was hard to believe she would set up mouse traps of any kind, but she did have a grandson who came in town from time to time.</p><p>Ashlynn realized she had a problem just as she reached out and knocked at the door. Soren had always seemed adamant about keeping himself and whatever he was a secret. Ashlynn couldn’t hardly ask if Grandma Susie had seen any small people running around. Thinking of what she was going to say, she tapped at the door briskly. After a few seconds, the interior door swung open revealing Grandma Susie.</p><p>The wrinkles on her face curled into a smile and the crows’ feet by her eyes sent rippling wrinkles to her ears. She adjusted her thick rimmed spectacles as she opened the door and beckoned Ashlynn inside.</p><p>“Oh, hello Ashlynn. Come on in,” she said sweetly as she stepped to the side. Ashlynn stepped in after wiping her feet, grateful that the elderly woman’s apartment was saturated with heat which must’ve cost a fortune. “What a pleasant surprise. I was getting my cards ready for a game. Would you like to join me?” Her voice had an elderly timbre conveying a genuine, kind heart.</p><p>Ashlynn didn’t want to refuse, but time was certainly of the essence. “Hello Grandma Susie. I wish I could stay,” she said with an apologetic glance. “But I’m actually doing a favor for a friend. Um… this is kind of embarrassing.”</p><p>“Oh? Well, if there’s something I can do, just let me know. Is it something to do with… Jordan?” asked Grandma Susie. Hearing the name made her tense, but Ashlynn smiled instead.</p><p>“No. That’s over and done with. I---”</p><p>“Good. I know it hurts sweetie, but he was no good for you if I may be so bold to say,” interrupted Grandma Susie. Though there was truth to what Grandma Susie said, Ashlynn was dealing with far too many emotions as it was to be worrying about that jerk. She laughed nervously and shoved her hands in her pockets to occupy herself.</p><p>“Actually, no. He’s… out of the picture. My situation is this. My friend wanted me to watch his… mouse… and it managed to get loose. You haven’t seen any mice recently, have you?” asked Ashlynn. She watched with dread as Grandma Susie readjusted her glasses and nodded, a sad glimmer in her eye.</p><p>“Yes, actually. My grandson Peter, you remember Peter – tall, brown hair and eyes, marvelous singing voice – anyway, he noticed a few things out of place and helped set a few of those glue traps. I wanted things to be over and done with, but he insisted that this was more humane.” There was a hollowness to the elderly woman’s words which felt like a gut punch and made a sickening feeling rise in her throat.</p><p>“And?” prompted Ashlynn, unable to muster any more words.</p><p>“Well. I forgot they were there until Jaida was nosing around. Poor creature. The little thing already expired all stuck in the glue and everything. I’m so sorry.” Grandma Susie’s words could have brought Ashlynn to her knees. She felt her heart hollow as if the wind had been knocked out of her from a powerful fall.</p><p>[No. Oh gosh no. Is she just covering up? Did she not notice the legs? The hands? I… I have to bring him back at the very least.] Ashlynn cleared her throat, slightly shocked to find it so constrained.</p><p>“Do… well, I know this is an odd request, but what did you do with the body? I’d like to give him a proper burial.” asked Ashlynn, scrambling mentally on how she was going to tell Soren. Grandma Susie readjusted her glasses awkwardly and pointed to the garage.</p><p>“I wrapped it up in a grocery sack and threw it in the bin outside. I wanted to get it taken care of before the trash ran. Really, I’m so sorry sweetie. I wish I’d have known.” Ashlynn felt her stomach drop. [That’s right. It’s trash day. It’s freezing outside and it’s trash day.] Ashlynn glanced back toward the door.</p><p>“It’s okay. Umm… I’m sorry, but I do have to go grab him before the trash runs. Thank you so much Grandma Susie,” said Ashlynn. She heard Grandma Susie saying her good-byes as Ashlynn whisked herself outside into the frigid air. She skidded a few times, but caught herself mid-slide as she hurried to the trash cans. She prayed silently nothing would be on top of the bag.</p><p>Sure enough, the trashcans were there at the end of the driveway. She rushed forward, braced herself, and threw the lid off. Sure enough, there was a small tied grocery sack right on top. Ashlynn had to check. She had to know what to tell Soren.</p><p>Dread filling her and bringing a sick bile in the back of her throat, Ashlynn reached forward and tugged the tie open.</p><p>There, at the bottom of the bag, was a glue trap with a small figure attached to it. At first glance, it did look like a mouse; however, another glance revealed two small legs and hands poking out from beneath the mouse pelt. The figure was holding eerily still.</p><p>Ashlynn remembered Soren’s rule about touching and holding him, but surely holding the trap wasn’t the same as holding them directly. She reached into the bag and pulled the trap from the plastic bag, then held it near her face. No movement.</p><p>Ashlynn’s heart ached terribly in her chest staring at the small figure when she noticed something. It was almost lost to her eyes – the slightest movement from the head. She inspected closer, now noticing how the face of the mouse pelt was folded and pressed into the glue. It made a perfect pocket for someone’s head. Then she heard it – a soft whimper.</p><p>Rey was alive.</p><p>She could have leapt for joy if she weren’t apprehensive about slipping on the ice or jostling the injured tiny person. Ashlynn closed the trashcan lid and held the glue trap close. There were now more audible sobs coming from the trap in her hand. [Speaking to him might make it worse, but I can’t just let him think he’s going to get hurt.]</p><p>“Rey? It’s okay. You’re going to be okay. I’m taking you to Soren.” As expected, Ashlynn heard more powerful sobs coming from Rey and saw him starting to struggle in the glue; but his entire front was stuck to the trap as if he had fallen face first into the adhesive. [This is going to be another long night.]</p><p>With that, Ashlynn began carefully walking back to her apartment as quickly as she dared with her sobbing rescue to the safety of her apartment.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Bandages and Glue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ashlynn returns with Rey and, together, she and Soren work to free and bandage the youngest Borrower brothers.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There were countless minutes of silent glances between Soren and Dorian as Soren washed away the blood from Dorian’s wounds. The bleeding was not as profuse as before, but the once clean water was now some shade of pink. Dorian, for the most part, had stopped crying as hard as before, but tears still gathered from time to time around his puffy eyes.</p><p>Soren wanted to explain how Ashlynn had helped him. He wanted to explain that he had made a deal and that a human seemed to respond to his requests. He wanted to ease his brother’s mind – but he could only worry about Rey and reassure Dorian that they were going to be okay.</p><p>The wounds, now cleaned, didn’t seem as bad as Soren initially suspected. Granted, they were still bad, and it was obviously traumatizing for Dorian, but Soren was glad Dorian was out of danger for the moment. Dorian still looked eerily pale and needed bandages, food, and rest; but those things could come later.</p><p>The sound of the door opening snapped both of them to attention. Dorian instinctively whimpered and stumbled forward behind Soren, latching onto his arm and peering out from behind his shoulder. Soren instinctually pulled Dorian behind his own body, despite the fact he trusted Ashlynn, wrapping his arm backwards around Dorian. [Old habits die hard.] He thought as he forced his body to relax.</p><p>Ashlynn stepped into the main room and carefully closed the door behind her, a rush a cold air following close behind. From the floor, Soren couldn’t see anything in her hands. Then he spotted something; a small, rectangular tray no bigger than her palm.</p><p>The look on her face was difficult to read; then, a mixture of two emotions. One of them was a pang of sadness while the other had a hopeful gleam. She flashed a partial smile at the two of them as she stepped forward. Dorian whimpered again as Ashlynn approached.</p><p>Soren couldn’t take it. He looked up at Ashlynn and called to her. “Did you find him? Is he alright?”</p><p>The pain in Soren’s heart burst into relief as he watched Ashlynn nod and carefully kneel, the whole time keeping the small, rectangular tray as level as possible.</p><p>“He’s okay, but he’s really stuck on here. I need to get some things. Be careful. You don’t want to get stuck too,” said Ashlynn, her voice much lower than normal. She lowered her hand onto the ground and set the tray near him. Soren felt like he had been punched in the gut.</p><p>Rey was, as Ashlynn said, really stuck onto the glue trap. It looked like he had fallen face first into the sticky substance. He was wearing the pelt and Soren couldn’t see his face, but he could hear his quivering sobs. Ashlynn retracted and inched her way to the kitchen to retrieve the necessary supplies to unstick the small boy. She had to use her phone to search for those supplies first.</p><p>In the meantime, Soren disregarded the potential issues of the sticky substance and stepped forward to lay his hands on his brother’s back. Soren could hear his heartbreaking sobs and the poor attempt to stifle those sobs.</p><p>“Rey? It’s okay. It’s me. It’s Soren. You’re going to be okay.” Soren began rubbing his brother’s back, unable to think of what else he could say or do.</p><p>“S-s-so-soren?” Rey’s already tiny voice, muffled by the pelt, was barely audible. There was another round of attempted thrashing as Rey attempted to break free from the glue’s grasp. His inability to break free set off another round of panicked breaths. “I…I c-can’t g-g-get out!” Dorian, still clinging to Soren, began shaking his shoulder.</p><p>“S-soren we need to leave. We need to get out of here! Before the human comes back,” Dorian whimpered.</p><p>“Soren, I was seen!” Rey was trying to press into Soren’s hands, as if the contact was keeping him grounded. “Are… are we… c-c-captured? I-I-I d-don’t wanna be a p-p-pet!” Soren had to take a moment and breathe. This wasn’t going to be easy – conveying to his brothers that they were going to be safe and that the human six feet away wasn’t going to put them in some kind of cage wasn’t going to be easy.</p><p>“Both of you, listen to me,” said Soren calmly. “I told you once that while we’re out here you have to listen to me – that you had to trust me. Do you still trust me?” Both brothers’ demeanors shifted to uncertain, but both nodded as best as they could. There was still uncertainty, but Soren could work with what little he had.</p><p>“You have to trust me now – Ashlynn, the human over there, won’t hurt us.” Dorian shifted and Rey whimpered. “Listen to me. I’ve been out here – on my own for a few weeks now – and we have an arrangement. She listens to me and won’t do anything without permission. We’re going to be okay.”</p><p>Dorian opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, looking timid at his eldest brother’s words, but Soren, with a gentle glance, took the words from him. “It’s okay. We’re going to be okay.”</p><p>Before he could say anything else, Ashlynn’s voice seized their attention. “Soren, I figured out how to get him unstuck. Can… well… may I approach? This is going to take a while.” Dorian repositioned himself nervously. Soren could feel Dorian’s hands trembling and heard Rey muttering over and over, “no, no, no.” Soren steeled himself and turned back to Ashlynn.</p><p>“Can you give us another minute, Ashlynn?” he asked, a thought coming to mind. “Actually, could you cut some bandages so they’re not so big? I want to wrap Dorian’s wounds.” Ashlynn nodded after seeing the situation and retrieved her first aid kit once again and began cutting strips of bandages as thin as she could.</p><p>Dorian marveled at this interaction. His brother – always fearless and calm – had just spoken to a human and commanded her to listen and perform a task. More importantly – she listened. Dorian, not keeping his eyes off of the human, listened as Soren continued to try and calm and soothe Rey and evaluate how to best get him off of the trap.</p><p>Several minutes passed in this odd mixture of silence and soothing until Ashlynn cleared her throat and waved to get Soren’s attention.</p><p>“Soren? Are you all… good?” asked Ashlynn. Soren felt his muscles stiffen, heart still racing. Despite what his brothers wanted, this needed to be done. With a reassuring smile to Dorian, Soren turned back to Ashlynn and nodded.</p><p>“Yes, we’re good. We’re going to be okay,” said Soren calmly. Dorian flinched while Rey whimpered. “We’re going to be okay. Listen to me. We’re going to be fine.” Soren continued to repeat this mantra as Ashlynn approached.</p><p>Ashlynn laid the bandages near Soren and held a bowl of something in her hand along with a few pieces of cloth. She towered over the three of them as she stepped around them. Dorian trembled as he realized that Ashlynn was sitting less than a foot away.</p><p>Dorian could see the threads in her pants. He could see the creases in her knuckles as her hand was mere inches from them. He wanted to scream and run for the walls, but Soren remained unmoving. He didn’t want to leave Soren. He couldn’t leave Soren – not again. He couldn’t go back to being alone with Rey trying to live. If they were captured – at least they were together.</p><p>“Soren,” Ashlynn said softly. “I remember our rules and agreements, but you’re going to need help getting your brother unstuck.” Rey began whimpering and thrashed against the glue uselessly.</p><p>“Rey, it’s okay. You’re okay. Ashlynn, what do you propose? How are we going to get him unstuck?”</p><p>“We need to rub this oil around his body and massage it along the limbs. We also need to make sure his face isn’t covered. I can’t see how close his face is and just pouring the oil into the tray is a bad idea. If we can get him unstuck mostly, I can help lift him out,” said Ashlynn. “You need to bandage your brother, so I can help with the oil if you’ll let me.”</p><p>Soren didn’t like the idea of Ashlynn holding his youngest brother, but there was little else he could do. He remembered again with a shudder that he had willingly jumped into Ashlynn’s hands for the first time and had been lifted and carried in her grasp. He remembered her gentle touch and the warmth of her palms, feeling the beating of her heart beneath his hands. It wasn’t a bad experience – but he had taken two weeks to acclimatize to Ashlynn’s presence; and even then he was relatively uncomfortable. At the same time, he couldn’t lift him out of the tray on his own.</p><p>“If it comes to it and there’s no other way,” Soren started. “Then you can help; but I think helping with the oil will be enough.”</p><p>“Sounds good,” she muttered. “Just let me know.”</p><p>They watched as Ashlynn poured some oil onto a few rags, handing a piece of one to Soren and keeping one for herself, and began rubbing the cloth around Rey’s limbs. Soren took a few minutes to temporarily bandage Dorian’s wounds on his arms, side, back, and a scrape on his leg until he could clean himself properly.</p><p>After nearly two hours of careful work – and numerous pauses so Soren could console Rey and Dorian – Rey began to pull free. His arm came free first; and his tiny hands instantly clutched onto his brother’s hand. His other arm and leg came free next. His torso began to wiggle free and, after a debate, Soren allowed Ashlynn to tilt the trap vertically for him to grab onto his brother and pull.</p><p>It was incredibly sticky and Soren worried that he wouldn’t be able to get free from Rey, but ultimately Rey came free. They toppled to the ground in a sticky heap before Rey turned around and buried his face into Soren’s chest, sobbing and shaking. Dorian quickly joined in, piling onto the adhesive mound.</p><p>Ashlynn ran a shallow sink of warm water with bubbles – something that the brothers had only experienced a few times in their entire lives – and waited patiently for them to get into Soren’s box to be lifted onto the bathroom counter and into the sink to clean.</p><p>Soren wrapped his leg in something called “plastic wrap,” according to Ashlynn, and joined his brothers to help clean wounds and dirt and grime. They didn’t speak and spent most of the time recuperating in the slightly steaming water.</p><p>Once they were clean, they dried themselves and dressed in some of the clothes Soren had stitched together as extras. Soren called for Ashlynn after they were dressed, bandaged, and in the box. She came in, a weary smile on her face, as she carefully transferred them back to her room to the familiar place on the bedside table.</p><p>Ashlynn brought two additional makeshift bed materials and set them nearby for them to use. Seeing four additional eyes watching her and then ducking away under the covers was both heartwarming and disheartening.</p><p>They were all exhausted, but also unwilling to sleep. Ashlynn left a small light on at Soren’s request. Her calm sounds of breathing filled the room within minutes. The moment she was asleep, both Dorian and Rey slipped out of their cots and into Soren’s bed, tucking themselves under his shoulders and pressing themselves against him.</p><p>“Soren?” Rey’s tiny voice penetrated the darkness. “I’m scared.” Soren wrapped his arms tighter around his brothers, exhaling long and hard.</p><p>“I know you are,” he whispered before lifting his head up and pressing his cheek to the top of his brother’s head. “But it’s okay. We’re okay. I’m not going to let anything else happen to you ever.”</p><p>Soren felt Dorian shift to look up at him. “What’s going to happen to us? Do you think she’ll put us in a cage?”</p><p>“No,” said Soren. “We’re okay.” He paused. “Do you want me to stay up and make sure?” Both brothers shifted and laid closer to him. “Okay.”</p><p>“We missed you Soren,” muttered Rey. “We wanted to come back.”</p><p>“Shhh,” Soren soothed. “It’s okay. Just get some sleep. We’ll talk after a long rest. I’ll stay up.”</p><p>“All night?” asked Dorian.</p><p>“All night,” replied Soren. “I love you both… so much.”</p><p>Eventually, the brothers drifted off to sleep; and, eventually, Soren found a brief moment of rest – yet refused to slip into unconsciousness. He couldn’t fail his brothers again. He would not allow it.</p>
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<a name="section0020"><h2>20. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Next Steps</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Soren spend the evening reflecting on the events that transpired. What happened to his brothers while he was away? Where was their father Brady? What were they going to do now? Still injured and unable to provide for his own family, Soren is beginning to feel the severity and pressure of the current circumstances.<br/>In a special moment, he elects to confide in Ashlynn after she prompts him. Together, they decompress after the events of yesterday and begin thinking about what is to come.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The evening of watch was incredibly uneventful, as Soren expected, but far from quiet. He was left alone with his thoughts and the silent images of the events that transpired. They played in his mind over and over again, unrelenting. If Soren didn’t know better, he’d say he was in a horrible nightmare unable to wake and save himself in the waking world.</p><p>He kept seeing Dorian on the ground, collapsing out of fear and exhaustion. It must’ve taken every ounce of his will to walk out of the walls on his own in hopes of finding his older brother.</p><p>The silent image of Rey holding so still on the glue trap, saved from suffocation by pure luck and circumstance. If the older human had decided to smash the trap… Or if Rey had twisted more one way or the other… Soren shuddered and clasped his brothers’ shoulders in his hands. Both of them stirred simultaneously and pressed their faces into his shoulders.</p><p>Soren hated to think of how scared they must’ve been – how scared they still were. In their minds, they were still in danger being so near a human. It was only because they were exhausted and drained emotionally that they were able to sleep right now.</p><p>There was one other prominent thought, one question, in his mind – one that set his anger and frustration into a boil. Where was Brady?</p><p>Brady had left Soren those two weeks ago and had taken up the responsibility of taking care of Dorian and Rey. Brady had practically sacrificed Soren to the human for his own safety and the safety of his sons. If the human wasn’t Ashlynn, Soren didn’t think he would be alive; so, everything worked out for the best. Still, Brady couldn’t have known that.</p><p>More importantly were the conditions of Dorian and Rey. Last time he had seen them, they were a little thin but healthy. It was the Borrower way of life, needing to survive and eat light. Now, Dorian and Rey both were thinner than Soren remembered. Their bodies felt bonier and frail in his grasp.</p><p>There were supplies left if they were rationed properly. There were more than enough places to borrow from. A single, chilling thought crept into his mind.</p><p>Had Brady abandoned them too?</p><p>Surely not; but how else would Dorian and Rey be left alone? How would they feel so thin? Would they have been foolish enough to go borrowing on their own again after what happened the first time? If they were desperate enough, they would do what they needed to do to survive. Soren had taught them that much at least.</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>The rest of the night passed and, early in the morning when the first light peeked through the uncovered edges of the windows and the blackout curtains, Soren heard Ashlynn stir. Within minutes, he watched as she stretched and let out a sigh and moan. She rolled over, blue-grey eyes flickering open.</p><p>The moment she glanced at him, Ashlynn could see there were faint dark circles under his eyes. The events of the evening before left her mind torn in dreams and, even when she slept, it wasn’t as restful as she wanted. She could only imagine how Soren was feeling at that moment. She suspected, after knowing him for this short amount of time, that he had stayed up or, at the very least, he didn’t sleep well.</p><p>Their eyes met; and, for the first time, there was no fear in meeting and maintaining the others’ gaze. She raised her hand slightly and waved, receiving a weary smile from her small companion.</p><p>Ashlynn glanced over a little more and could see two heads of tussled hair at his sides. [They were probably scared to be here.] Ashlynn thought as she watched Soren rub their shoulders from over the covers. Ashlynn suspected Soren was very kind and thoughtful, but had only seen the rougher and self-preservative side of him.</p><p>It was only recently that he had opened up slightly. Seeing him like this, a caring older brother, was definitely new – and she liked it. She leaned up onto one elbow and, being careful, whispered, “Good morning.”</p><p>Neither of the boys stirred, much to Soren’s relief, and he elected to mouth, “good morning,” back to Ashlynn. His eyes lulled. He wanted desperately to go to sleep, but he needed to have another conversation with Ashlynn. He needed to have some kind of plan in place for him and his brothers.</p><p>Carefully, Soren untangled his arms from his brothers and lifted the covers so he could slip onto the outside. He had done this hundreds of times on cold winter nights and with almost no disturbance managed to place the brothers next to one another so they could keep warm without him. They barely stirred at the subtle jostling. [They must be exhausted.]</p><p>“Do you want to get some breakfast?” asked Ashlynn. Soren felt his insides twist as he remembered they failed to eat dinner the night before when Soren’s brothers revealed themselves.</p><p>There was now an obvious predicament. Soren did want to get breakfast and help prepare something for his brothers. Also, more than anything and most surprising to him, Soren needed to talk to Ashlynn. He needed to decompress – go over everything that had festered the night before in his mind, but he couldn’t leave his brothers. He couldn’t scare them by leaving them.</p><p>Ashlynn could see this inner conflict in his eyes and managed to catch his attention as he looked back to her. “I can go get it together if you want,” she whispered. Soren hung his head and rubbed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. When he didn’t answer, Ashlynn sensed there was something more bothering him and prompted him.</p><p>“You okay?” asked Ashlynn. There were a million ways to answer, but Soren couldn’t think of a single one in that moment. “Want to talk about it?” His silence once again confirmed it. “We could go into the kitchen?”</p><p>At this suggestion, Soren shook his head. “No.” His voice, already a challenge to hear, was almost imperceptible. “I… I don’t want… I can’t… leave them. Not again.” The boys stirred at the nearness of the sound. Soren tucked the blankets around them and they seemed to be content. Ashlynn nodded slowly. She prepared to get up when she heard Soren speak again.</p><p>“Maybe if we stay on the bed? That way I can see them and they can see me if they wake up?” This suggestion was new for Soren. Ashlynn hadn’t known him to make these suggestions before.</p><p>“Sure,” she whispered back. “Um… do you think you can… make it over here on your own?” Soren’s exhausted body shivered slightly, but he once again made eye contact with her as he brought his hand down from rubbing his eyes. It was in that look she understood – he wanted her to help. A sudden nervous rush flooded her senses.</p><p>The experience of holding Soren yesterday had been lost in the panic. Now that she had a moment, she realized how odd it felt to have his hands, his entire body, pressed into her hand. She had held him before when he was unconscious, but only on a few occasions to change the bandages on his leg. For him to make the conscious decision must’ve been difficult.</p><p>Still, he was asking for help now – despite the rules he had put forward. She felt her hands shake slightly as she placed it against the edge of the table. Soren stifled a yawn and staggered forward. Brushing off another shudder and an obvious mental battle, Soren stepped onto her fingers, stabilizing himself against her thumb as he stood.</p><p>Ashlynn, as slowly and carefully as possible, lifted her hand the single foot from her table to the bed. For a moment, Soren wavered before stepping from her hand and onto the bed. He shuddered involuntarily before practically collapsing backwards. They were silent for several minutes before he sat up and rubbed his eyes.</p><p>“Thank you,” he said, slightly louder than before. He reached up and scratched the back of his head. “I’ve been saying that a lot recently, huh?” Ashlynn’s lips tugged into a smirk.</p><p>“Not a bad thing in my book,” she whispered. “You didn’t sleep, did you?” The question was more of a statement; to which Soren shook his head.</p><p>“No,” he replied. “They… were nervous something might happen while we all slept.” Ashlynn inhaled deeply, the statement stinging a little. She didn’t have words; and it was probably better that way.</p><p>Soren sighed again, rubbing his temples. He didn’t know where to begin. His mind was still swirling and the exhaustion plaguing him was not helping his current state of mind.</p><p>“At least they’re alright,” he muttered finally. Ashlynn concurred with a nod. Soren’s chest felt tight. His head pounded. Every muscle ached from being tense. “I… don’t know what happened after I was gone, but I… I know I need to; but I don’t want to. I don’t want to make them talk about it. I don’t want to hear about what happened; but I know I need to hear it. I just wish I could know without making them relive it.”</p><p>Ashlynn watched Soren’s body position pulled inward slightly. “What do you want to know?” she prompted. Soren groaned in partial frustration.</p><p>“A lot of things. I want to know why they were on their own. I haven’t prepared a lot, but we had supplies that should have lasted two weeks if rationed correctly.” Soren couldn’t stop the words from coming. They were spilling out of him, coming faster and faster in uncontrollable spurts.</p><p>“I want to know why they were on their own trying to find supplies. More than anything, I want to know what happened to their father. Why that scumbag left them alone. They’re not old enough to be on their own. I just started training them. Why did he think it was okay to leave them?” Soren shuddered, suddenly realizing his body was trembling. He feared he might be saying too much, that he may let something slip, but so much was still pent up he couldn’t will himself to stop; as if saying it out loud made it real and lifted some invisible burden from him.</p><p>“They… they could have died… Ashlynn they could have died, and I couldn’t have done anything to save them.” Soren’s body continued to shake. He felt moisture clouding his vision. “I can’t hardly take care of myself right now. How am I supposed to make them feel safe? How am I supposed to take care of them if I can’t take care of myself? I… just don’t know what to do…”</p><p>Soren wrapped his arms around his waist, not making eye contact but simply staring at the comforter beneath him. His eyes threatened to spill tears, but they were too dry and tired. So, Soren simply took in shaky breaths hoping he could calm himself.</p><p>Ashlynn, seeing this, felt a pang in her heart. If this were one of her friends, she would reach out and rub on their shoulder. She would hug them or grasp their hand. She would tell them that everything was going to be alright.</p><p>It was the rules that held her at bay. Soren didn’t want to be touched without permission, and somehow Ashlynn felt her words would fall on deaf ears. Her chest tightened. They hadn’t known each other long, but there was a genuine connection with a person there – something she hadn’t felt in a while since she moved to this apartment. She wanted him to know he wasn’t alone.</p><p>Winning the debate with herself, she decided to test the boundaries knowing full well this could go horribly wrong for her and the little trust she built.</p><p>Ashlynn laid a hand on the bed, slowly, near Soren’s leg. Soren didn’t seem to notice. Carefully, she pressed a finger against his leg. Her finger easily dwarfed his leg and the sudden change of pressure made him jump slightly. He met her eyes, making Ashlynn’s breath catch in her chest; but then something happened.</p><p>Soren felt a sudden, unidentifiable pressure against his uninjured leg. It snapped him out of his mental spiraling, and he looked up suddenly to see Ashlynn had extended a single finger and had pressed it against the side of his leg ever so slightly. Somehow, the pressure was reassuring, and he found himself leaning into it. His hand involuntarily reached out and laid on the top of her finger.</p><p>The touch was so soft, like the brush of a feather against her skin. What she thought may be unnerving was now a marvelous sensation. She could see a trace of a smile on Soren’s face as he continued to process and shake.</p><p>Minutes passed. They said nothing. They moved nowhere. It was after this time that Soren spoke up.</p><p>“Thanks,” he muttered. Ashlynn nodded and smiled.</p><p>“Anytime,” she whispered back. She knew she was testing the boundaries, but now seemed to be the time. “You know, you don’t have to do this alone. You all can stay here, get better.” Soren curled his fingers into a light fist and tapped it against Ashlynn’s finger.</p><p>“I couldn’t ask that of you,” he said, his body finally coming back under his control. “I don’t have the right to ask that of you. You’ve already done so much for me and I haven’t done anything in return. If anything, I need to repay you.” Ashlynn shook her head with a sigh.</p><p>“Let’s just call it even,” she said. Soren opened his mouth to respond when Ashlynn continued. “Look, Soren, I’ve never considered myself to be a good person and, before I met you, I didn’t make a good life choices. Still don’t, arguably.” Ashlynn was quiet as Soren listened, surprised that his interest was piqued.</p><p>“Helping you, in some, I guess, weird way makes me feel like less of a terrible person,” said Ashlynn. “Just… for now, let’s call it even.”</p><p>Soren wanted to discuss this more, but heard a faint shifting of fabric. His eyes glanced over to the box and he could see his youngest brother, Rey, beginning to shift and sit up rubbing his eyes.</p><p>Both of them, seeing this, went into unspoken action. Ashlynn rotated the hand that was pressed against Soren’s leg as he thrust himself up and onto her fingers. She tilted her wrist so he wouldn’t fall as she quickly whisked him over to the bedside table. She set him down clumsily, making him stumble; but, thankfully, she had removed her hand from Soren’s body and back to the bed just in time.</p><p>Soren knelt by the edge of their makeshift bed and smiled. “Hey,” he said softly. “Good morning.” It was a close call, and Soren hoped that if Rey did see what just transpired that he would not freak out. Soren knew there was a monumental task ahead, but at least he wasn’t in it alone.</p>
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<a name="section0021"><h2>21. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Square One Again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Soren speaks with his brothers about the events that transpired while he was away - now realizing the long road ahead to get them comfortable around Ashlynn while he recuperates. What happened to the brothers? Where is Brady? And how will Soren proceed?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> Rey yawned and rubbed his eyes. For the first time in several weeks, he had a restful sleep and he felt at ease once again being with his oldest brother; however, it was short lived. Upon opening his eyes, he suddenly realized that Soren wasn’t beside him – Dorian was.</p><p>Before his mind could race and send him spiraling into panic, he looked around to see Soren sitting at the edge of their makeshift bed.</p><p>“Hey,” Soren said softly. “Good morning.” Soren smiled warmly. He had missed how Soren’s smile spread all the way through to his eyes. The moment would have gone unspoiled if Rey didn’t spot Ashlynn sitting up in bed.</p><p>His eyes widened and he naturally shrunk back into the covers, bringing them under his chin and over his mouth. Soren noticed this shift and glanced back to Ashlynn. Without a word, she folded the covers off of her body, got up, and headed for the kitchen. Soren and Rey both let out an involuntary exhale, each for different reasons. Soren shook his thoughts away and looked to his youngest brother.</p><p>“Did you sleep okay?” he asked. Rey pulled the blankets from his face and played with the edges of the fabric. It was very soft between his fingers. He couldn’t help but look at the door where the human left through.</p><p>“Yeah,” he murmured. His eyes eventually found his brother’s eyes, for the first time noticing the circles beneath them.</p><p>“You… stayed up all night?” he asked. Soren nodded.</p><p>“I told you I would,” Soren replied. Their speaking, though still low, was enough to stir Dorian. His brown furrowed as he inhaled slowly and deeply. He winced as he stretched, undoubtedly tugging at the wounds beneath his bandages. Dorian’s eyes flittered open before he became instantly alert and sat up.</p><p>“Soren? Where’s the… is she…” Dorian looked around. Soren felt a hint of pride in his brother’s vigilance and concern.</p><p>“It’s okay,” Soren soothed, pulling himself further onto the makeshift bed. “She’s making breakfast. It’ll take a while.” Both of the younger brothers exchanged a nervous glance – and Soren could guess that there were a few reasons behind it. “I know she makes you nervous, but it’s really okay.” This didn’t seem to reassure them. To his surprise, Rey spoke up first.</p><p>“We… well… dad said that you might be different; that humans had this effect on us over time.” Rey’s statement was reminiscent of what Dorian said the night before. It stung. Soren sighed and shook his head, jaw clenching and unclenching involuntarily. Soren shook his thoughts away. He couldn’t think about that right now.</p><p>“I’m going to tell you what I told Dorian yesterday,” he started. “I haven’t changed – no matter what Brady said. I had to improvise to survive and made some difficult choices including staying with Ashlynn because I could not take care of myself with my leg injured like this.”</p><p>Soren breathed in shakily. “Which brings me to something I know we need to talk about, and you’re not going to like it. We have to stay here a little longer.” Dorian and Rey glanced at one another and then back to him, their slightly dulled blue eyes conveying nervousness and uncertainty.</p><p>“S-stay? For how long?” asked Dorian. His thumb absentmindedly traced over the bandages Soren placed on his forearm. “Why can’t we leave?”</p><p>Rey nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we’re together now. We have you,” agreed Rey. Soren nodded and smiled. He didn’t want to shatter their perception of him. He was the older brother – the undefeatable hero always able to pull through at the last possible moment. Perhaps it was selfish, but Soren coveted those moments.</p><p>“Yes, we’re together – and that’s not going to change; however,” Soren sighed heavily, and his brothers took notice. “I am still hurt. My leg is on the mend and it should be better soon. Until then, I can’t borrow. I can’t run. I can’t carry my bag or anything I find. I can barely climb.” The brothers’ faces began to fill with worry. It was heart crushing.</p><p>“B…but… what are we going to do?” whimpered Dorian. Soren leaned forward and clasped his brothers’ hands. Their eyes fixed onto his.</p><p>“We’re going to stay for just a little bit longer,” said Soren calmly. “I’ll talk to Ashlynn – she’s the human – and have some arrangements made. We can put our beds on the ground under the bed or just inside the wall; but, until I get better, we have to stay nearby.” They looked reluctant and still unsure, but nodded. To Soren, it looked like they were possibly accepting their perceived fate of captivity.</p><p>Soren knew there was nothing he could say in that moment to calm them further. Even he was unsure until very recently about Ashlynn and her intentions. Guard always at the ready. Fate accepted in the worst-case scenario. Soren could hardly say he was as okay as he let on. He shook his thoughts away. There was no time to think about such things now.</p><p>His eyelids grew heavy and threatened to close on him. Was he really that tired? The yawn that crept up on him was barely stifled as he returned his attention to his brothers. He needed to find out what happened to that pathetic excuse of a dad, Brady, and fill in the pieces that only Dorian and Rey knew.</p><p>“Trust me,” he said finally with another reassuring smile. He saw them nod in acknowledgment, which was enough for now. “Now… I know it only happened yesterday, but I need you to tell me what has happened while I was gone. Where did you go? Where have you been living? Where is Br… I mean, your dad?”</p><p>Dorian and Rey both shuffled under the covers closer together, as if their simple proximity with one another would make the situation better and make them more comfortable. Rey was the first to speak up.</p><p>“After we got back in the walls, we did like you said and ran a good distance away back toward camp just in case; and we waited and waited,” began Rey. “Dad came back and… and…” Rey sniffed and wiped his eyes with the base of his palm.</p><p>“And I wasn’t with him,” finished Soren. They nodded.</p><p>“We begged dad to go back and even offered to help, but he said the human got you and that you were captured,” finished Dorian.</p><p>Both boys spoke slowly, voices crestfallen as if they were admitting guilt to some kind of crime. Soren clasped their hands harder and pulled himself closer just as they pulled themselves closer to him.</p><p>“He said he would keep an eye out and that we would rescue you when the human wasn’t looking; but, before that, we had to move camp. Dad thought the human would make you tell where we were. So, we moved,” said Dorian.</p><p>“Yeah,” added Rey. “He had us climb an entire floor up so we could stay in the ceiling.”</p><p>“He had you what?” Soren didn’t mean to interrupt. It was completely involuntary, but he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. [An entire floor? They only just learned how to climb a line properly. It’s a miracle they didn’t slip and fall.] He watched his brothers nod again.</p><p>“Dad said it was safer there. There was a place with sturdy wood, and it was warm. We moved everything and made camp,” finished Rey. Soren exhaled slowly as Dorian continued the account.</p><p>“We did see you from the ceiling. Dad found where you were after the first week or so and took us to see. That’s… when he told us that you might be different…. We saw her doing something to you, but dad made us leave,” said Dorian. Soren felt himself roll his eyes, disguised as a long blink. [At least Brady has that much going for him. He didn’t make them witness everything that happened to me.]</p><p>“After that…” Dorian’s voice snapped Soren back to the present. “He went out and tried borrowing what he could, but there wasn’t a lot since we couldn’t go where you were for safety. We tried rationing the food, but… dad… he was having a hard time bringing back rations.”</p><p>“After a couple weeks, he said there was a new family he was watching and he was going to try and get food from them. He left, told us to be safe, and to not go to the apartment where you were,” said Dorian.</p><p>“How long ago was that?” asked Soren. The brothers exchanged unsure glances. They could tell time, but the family watch was at their last home and was too heavy to bring with them. Soren was impressed that his brothers remembered the account and were able to convey it without losing their nerve – at least for now. He knew there was more to the story.</p><p>“Maybe… four days? Five? I don’t remember,” said Rey.</p><p>“I don’t remember either,” muttered Dorian.</p><p>“Okay. Then what happened?” prompted Soren. They shifted uncomfortably. [That’s what I was waiting for. This next bit is going to be rough] thought Soren as he braced himself for what was to come.</p><p>“Well… dad… he said he would; but – he didn’t come back…” muttered Rey. Tears were gathering in his and Dorian’s eyes. [That’s what I thought. Sounds like something happened with the new humans who moved in.]</p><p>“We didn’t know where to go and we were so hungry. The lines were still up – the ones you put up. So, we climbed down to see what happened. We thought we could get to the place you took us with all of the chips. I had my hook and we both had line; but, we got turned around and ended up in the old lady’s apartment,” said Dorian.</p><p>Soren watched as both of their breathing became shallower. Their eyes darted around as if they could see the events happening again and again in front of them.</p><p>“That’s when Rey got stuck?” asked Soren.</p><p>“It was so scary Soren,” whimpered Rey. “I… I was trying to be careful and quiet and I just tripped under the cabinet.”</p><p>“I tried to get him out,” added Dorian, lower lip quivering. “But the more we struggled the harder it got. I-I-I tried to find something to help pry him off, but that’s when…” His hand involuntarily grabbed at the bandages and wounds on his arms.</p><p>“I didn’t see the cat and it got me. I… t-th-thou-ght that it was gonna e-ea-t me, but it l-let me go when the human came in the room. I ran as fast as I could back to R-r-ey to hide, but the cat followed me and so d-did the human,” sniffed Dorian. “That’s when she grabbed the sticky trap with Rey and took him away.”</p><p>“It was so scary Soren!” Rey choked partially on a sob as he whipped his eyes with the back of his free hand.</p><p>“Shhh… it’s okay,” soothed Soren as he leaned forward and rubbed his brother’s shoulder. He finally had a better idea of what had actually happened and, whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, it was just like he suspected.</p><p>“So, after that,” said Soren. “You came to find me?” Dorian nodded silently. “I’m glad you did.” Dorian glanced up at him almost disbelievingly, like he was disappointed in himself.</p><p>“Even though I was seen and now we’re here with a human?” he asked quietly. Soren nodded.</p><p>“Especially now. If you didn’t come and be as brave as you were facing Ashlynn not knowing what would happen, Rey wouldn’t be here. Dorian, you helped <em>save </em>your brother. That’s nothing to be upset or beat yourself up about,” said Soren before scooting closer and pulling his brothers into a tight hug. They leaned into him, wrapping their arms as tight as they could around his shoulders.</p><p>There were two conflicting sensations happening simultaneously. The first was the warmth of the embrace with his brothers. He was finally able to help them after being taken out of commission. The second was a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. Brady’s whereabouts were still unknown and the pain his brothers went through could only heal with time.</p><p>What made the matter worse was the moment was interrupted when both brothers inhaled sharply and shrank in Soren’s grasp. Soren turned to see Ashlynn poking her head through the door, a tray in her hand. He exhaled to relax himself.</p><p>“It’s okay! Just give us a minute,” called Soren. Ashlynn, barely hearing his voice, nodded and ducked back out of the room. “Ashlynn made breakfast. So, she’s going to come into the room and bring in a tray of things. Knowing her, she’ll probably have bandages too.”</p><p>Dorian and Rey both whimpered and pulled themselves slightly under the blankets. Their lack of trust was making Soren uneasy. He remembered the fear they were going through, but hardly felt it anymore. Was Brady right? Had he really changed so much? The thought of a human seeing him used to terrify him, but now it felt simpler; like he could be at ease with someone he could trust.</p><p>He couldn’t think about that now. Instead, he shook those thoughts away and prepared his brothers.</p><p>“Okay, here’s how this is going to go. I’m going to call her back in. She’ll drop off breakfast and whatever is on that tray, I’ll thank her, and then she’ll leave for a while. Okay?” Dorian and Rey nodded, but also looked like they’d rather duck under the covers to hide. “It’ll just be a minute.”</p><p>Soren stood and hobbled to the edge of the nightstand. “Ashlynn! We’re good. You can come in now!” His voice carried across the vast room to the door. Once again, Ashlynn came in with the tray.</p><p>“You okay?” she asked softly upon seeing the way Soren kept glancing back at his brothers. He nodded and watched her set the tray onto her bed. Much to her relief, Ashlynn let Soren point and guide where she placed the different elements which included several bottle caps, a roll of foil, and a two bowls.</p><p>The first bowl was filled with finely chopped scrambled eggs with bits of different elements in them which Soren guessed were different meats and vegetables. The second bowl was steaming slightly with warm water. Ashlynn also placed some bandages and cream nearby.</p><p>“Ashlynn,” called Soren as she turned to retrieve the tray. “Thank you.” There was a reassurance in her smile, but also a slight hurt that she was back at square one in gaining trust. “Are… I mean… what are your plans for the day?” Ashlynn gave a partial shrug and sighed.</p><p>“Not sure just yet. It’s my cleaning day, so I’ll do that for sure. You?” she returned the question. Soren felt a small smile tug onto his lips.</p><p>“I’m going to make sure they’re okay and,” he paused as a yawn snuck up on him. “I think I may lay down. We could all use more rest.”</p><p>“Not a bad idea,” replied Ashlynn. “I’ll go ahead and leave you to it. I’ll be back later.” With that, she slipped out of the room.</p><p>The warm food was much appreciated, especially since missing their meal the previous night. They ate in silence, enjoying the first meal they had together in what felt like forever. After they finished, Soren took the time to change Dorian and Rey’s bandages before washing their dishes in the rest of the warm water.</p><p>At this point, Soren was exhausted. His eyes were drooping. Each thought he tried to form faded into the abyss of his mind. There was only one cure – sleep. He needed sleep, but he couldn’t bear the thought of his brothers worrying while he slept. He couldn’t go without sleep though.</p><p>He stayed conscious as long as he could as he staggered back to their makeshift bed and flopped onto the soft, cushiony fabric. Dorian and Rey rushed to his side and shook him.</p><p>“Soren? Soren! Are you okay?” they asked in unison. Soren nodded.</p><p>“Don’t worry bobbins. Just tired,” yawned Soren.</p><p>“B…but… what if she…” started Dorian. Soren reached up with both hands and ruffled the hair on their heads.</p><p>“Don’t worry bobbins,” he smiled as he dragged himself back into the same place he was the night before. The moment he was situated, Dorian and Rey tucked themselves into his sides, heads resting on his shoulders. Soren’s arms draped over their arms as he pulled them in tight. “We’ll be alright. If she come back in, you can ask her to leave nicely or just wake me up. Okay?” He felt them both nod and mutter an “okay.”</p><p>It took moments for Soren to be pulled into a deep sleep. Dorian and Rey both glanced at one another from across his chest. Was this their life now? Were they really going to be set free? Or had Soren pulled them into a trap set by a human?</p><p>For now, all that mattered was that they were together; and, soon, they too drifted off to sleep.</p>
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<a name="section0022"><h2>22. One Shot | A Tall and Small Collection | Offering</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rey, after battling with himself, knows Soren would go to any lengths to safe him and Dorian. Rey now wants to return the favor, knowing Soren's freedom is essential to their survival. He goes to Ashlynn to propose a trade - something which sparks a conversation between Borrower and Human.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rey didn’t remember drifting off to sleep. What he did remember was the rhythmic thumping in Soren’s chest and his calm, deep breaths. It was hypnotizing and soothing. Rey stirred, awaking to the same sounds that lulled him to sleep. Soren remained in the same position Rey had fallen asleep to as did Dorian.</p><p>He was the only one awake. That being the case, Rey’s thoughts began swirling in his mind.</p><p>For the past two weeks, Rey didn’t know what really happened to Soren. He didn’t know if he was captured and injured or if he was even alive. It was a scary feeling – terrifying even. Listening to his oldest brother breathe reminded him that Soren was okay.</p><p>For the past two weeks, he didn’t know how they were going to survive – especially without Soren. Rey was young – he knew that – but it didn’t take much for him to see Soren’s efforts were far greater when compared to those of his dad. He hated that the thought of his dad not knowing what to do crossed his mind. It made him ask questions.</p><p>What would they do without their dad? How would they survive? If Soren never came back, if he didn’t escape, what were he and Dorian going to do? The thought made him shrink and whimper quietly to himself.</p><p>For the past two weeks after seeing the human with Soren, Rey wondered what Soren was going through. Was he okay? Was the human hurting him? Was the human changing Soren? Was he ever coming back to them? At least, would he come back the same as when he left?</p><p>Soren stirred, inhaling deeply and pulled he and Dorian closer. Even though they were in a human’s room – discovered and injured – at least they were together.</p><p>A terrible thought crept into Rey’s mind. How long would the human let them stay together?</p><p>Soren didn’t seem worried about the human. Was that because he changed? Or was it because he had worked out some kind of deal with her? Rey knew Soren would do whatever it took to keep them safe. Would he make a deal with the human to stay as long as she let him and Dorian go? There was no doubt in Rey’s mind and he refused to let that happen.</p><p>If the last two weeks told Rey anything, it was that they needed Soren if they wanted to stand a chance in their dangerous world. He made up his mind. He wasn’t going to leave Soren again, and he wasn’t going to let someone take his oldest brother away.</p><p>Rey pushed himself up carefully and looked around the room. No human. As quietly as he could, he slipped out from Soren’s grasp and headed to the edge of the table. He found a hook and climbing line, electing to borrow it for the time being. Just like Soren taught him, he secured the line and rappelled to the floor. He picked up the line and brought it with him, a weak determination driving him forward. He traced along the side of the wall, through the propped open door, and into the main room.</p><p>The sheer size of the room was dizzying. The ceiling was impossibly high. The furniture was immense. Everything made him feel so much smaller than he already felt. It took no time at all for him to spot the human – Ashlynn – sitting on the thing Soren called a so-fa.</p><p>Rey felt his limbs triple in weight as though they were filled with sand. His chest tightened. Eyes watered. He had to stay focused. This was for Soren. He wiped his eyes and nose with the back of his hand and marched timidly forward.</p><p>He approached closer and closer with each step, unsure what to say. His heart pounded in his chest. Each pulse felt like it was going to break through his ribs.</p><p>He began to fret. What if she said no? What if she got angry? What if she lashed out? Was there something, anything, that he could do? What if something happened to him and Dorian and Soren never found out?</p><p>“Hey, glad to see you’re walking around okay.” The sudden female voice, though gentle and soft, startled him out of his fretting trance. His breath hitched as he stared up into two large blue-grey eyes. He quickly glanced around and took a few faltering steps to the nearest place to hide, but then stopped. [For Soren] he reminded himself silently. He stood his ground and looked back up to Ashlynn.</p><p>Ashlynn, seeing how she startled the small boy, retracted. She had been relaxing on the sofa for the majority of the day after cleaning the apartment. She hoped to give Soren and his brothers some space but, apparently, one of them didn’t seem like he wanted to be left alone.</p><p>She realized she was back at square one and needed to earn her new house guests’ trust, which was okay. She never expected to see who Soren classified as his younger brother to wander about on his own. He looked scared, but also a hint of determination burned in his eyes.</p><p>“Sorry,” she said hurriedly, trying to diffuse the situation. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”</p><p>Rey nodded and choked out the words, “It’s okay.” Ashlynn eyed him, curious as to why he came outside the room without Soren, and, once again, he flinched.</p><p>Rey didn’t like being on the ground. He didn’t like the way she loomed over him, but that would mean taking his eyes off of her. There was no other option. He took his borrowed hook and threw it with all his might onto the table. It flew through the air but did not gain purchase. It clattered to the ground loudly. He tried again and again, becoming frustrated, until he heard Ashlynn speak again.</p><p>“Do… you want some help?” she asked. Rey’s shoulders slumped. He wanted to do it himself – and he didn’t want to be held – but he didn’t want to prolong the inevitable conversation he was determined to have. Rey nodded slowly. He saw Ashlynn smile and nod. “Okay. Hang on to your rope tight, okay? Keep your foot on your hook.”</p><p>Rey blinked a few times, feeling slightly confused. “You… you’re… not going to…” Rey felt his mouth dry like he had stuffed cotton in his cheeks. Ashlynn, understanding his meaning, shook her head.</p><p>“Not if you don’t want me to,” she said reassuringly. “Soren laid the ground rules, but feel free to add what you think you need.” With that, she picked up the end of the string and lifted it so the hook barely rested on the ground in front of Rey.</p><p>Rey felt like he wanted to cry. His nerves trembled and made him shake in his shoes, but he couldn’t back down now. He clutched the line in his hands and stepped onto the hook. It swayed slightly under his weight. He mustered a timid nod and felt the line pulling him up into the air.</p><p>It was surprisingly fast and smooth. Rey glided through the air from the floor like he was on the old lift at their old home. Ashlynn set the line onto the coffee table in front of her and let go, leaving Rey standing on a vast wooden and glass surface. He looked up at Ashlynn, her smooth and slightly rounded features consuming his focus.</p><p>He knew what he needed to say. He knew what he needed to do. Yet, in this moment, he could not muster the words he wanted to say. So, there he was, looking terribly determined alone on the glass and wooden table, wondering if the right words would hit him; and they weren’t.</p><p>Ashlynn, on the other hand, felt a wave of concern flooding her thoughts. The little one looked terribly focused, but also at a loss for words. It was like he wanted to ask her something but was reluctant to. She remembered Soren had a similar look on multiple occasions when he was trying to figure out how to list off his various rules and how to best interact with her.</p><p>“Are… you okay? I mean, do you need anything?” asked Ashlynn. Ashlynn watched as Rey’s breathing became shallower, eyes welling with tears. “Oh… oh no. Oh no no please don’t cry. It’s okay.” Ashlynn wanted to comfort him, but knew it was probably her presence alone that was overwhelming the small being. Rather than reach out as she had done with Soren, she pulled a tissue out from the nearby tissue box and tore off a piece before placing it on the table a safe distance away.</p><p>“There’s a tissue for you. You can use it to wipe up your eyes and blow your nose.” Ashlynn was certain Rey knew what a tissue was used for, but she needed something to cling onto in order to keep the conversation friendly. Rey nodded and stepped over to pick up the tissue. He still seemed upset.</p><p>Ashlynn tried thinking of something to make him feel better. For one reason or another, she remembered what her dad used to do – think of the positive things.</p><p>“Hey, it’s going to be okay. You’re all good. You’re safe and not trapped anymore. Your brothers are okay. Soren is getting better. You’ll get to leave as soon as you’re all better. See? You’re okay,” encouraged Ashlynn. She heard Rey sniff pitifully into the tissue fragment. He clutched the frayed piece in both of his hands and kept his arms close to his chest.</p><p>“For now,” he muttered, barely audible to Ashlynn’s ears. After a few more stuffy sniffs, he looked to Ashlynn, his soft blue eyes still red and puffy.</p><p>“Always. You’re always welcome to stay or go as you like,” reassured Ashlynn. Rey eyed her skeptically.</p><p>“And… what about Soren?” he asked.</p><p>“What about him?” asked Ashlynn, partially confused.</p><p>“H-h-how l-long are you going to keep him?” Rey was having a hard time with each word. He hadn’t anticipated his emotions choking his words the way they were. Ashlynn stared at him curiously, which seemed to make him uncomfortable.</p><p>“I’m… not keeping him though,” said Ashlynn slowly. “Do… you think I’m keeping him here?” She heard Rey whimper quietly before clenching his fists and lowering his arms.</p><p>“I… I know he would do anything to protect us and that he doesn’t seem worried around you.” He spoke as loud as he could, keeping his eyes pinched tight. It looked, to Ashlynn, like he was trying to rip off some kind of verbal band-aid. “I… I just want to tell you that you can’t keep him. Please, don’t change him anymore. We need him. He’s the best Borrower there ever was. Y-you… you can keep me instead.”</p><p>Ashlynn was completely stunned. Did this little guy really think she was keeping Soren? Brainwashing him? And what on earth was a Borrower? Based on the pitiful stance he was taking, she assumed the answer was yes to both questions. Then, it clicked. Was “Borrower” what they were? Dorian and Soren and Rey were Borrowers? She barely managed to contain a grin at how the name seemed to fit all three of them perfectly.</p><p>“Sweetie, I don’t want to keep you. I don’t want to keep your other brother or Soren,” she said gently.</p><p>“B-b-but, m-my da-dad and Soren said that humans would want to k-ke-keep us as pets,” whimpered Rey as he tried to collect himself. Ashlynn’s brow furrowed. She could definitely imagine something like that happening. Based on her initial interactions with Soren, he was obviously terrified of being trapped and kept against his will. It was only natural his brother would see it the same way. It still hurt though.</p><p>“I can see that. A lot of people are really terrible; but, a lot of people are really good too. I mean, how many humans have you met?” stated Ashlynn. She did have a point. Rey hadn’t met any other humans other than her and had only heard stories about what happened to other Borrowers from his dad and Soren. Was this the kind of argument that persuaded Soren?</p><p>“It’s probably safer to see humans as dangerous; but, if it’s okay with you, maybe you could let me try and prove that I’m okay,” said Ashlynn. Rey looked up into her blue-grey eyes, for the first time concentrating hard on the enormous orbs gazing at him. For the life of him, he couldn’t find any deception in her statement. She genuinely wanted to prove herself.</p><p>Rey, though still on his guard like Soren said to be always when beyond the walls, nodded. “I think I can do that,” he said quietly.</p><p>The moment was brief, but meaningful, and would have continued had they not heard Soren’s call from behind the sofa by the bedroom door.</p><p>“Rey! Rey!” he called. They heard the rhythmic tap of a cast and a walking stick. “Ashlynn! Rey’s missing! Have you seen…” Soren hobbled up around the corner and spotted Ashlynn sitting on the sofa leaning slightly forward with her elbows on her crossed legs and Rey standing on the table.</p><p>~~~~~~~</p><p>Soren, who had woken up with a missing brother, felt instantly panicked. He clambered down the nightstand using the electrical lamp cord after ensuring Dorian was still asleep. Though he wasn’t sure why Rey would go off on his own, he was relieved Rey wasn’t doing something crazy like go back to their campsite on his own.</p><p>“There you are! You scared me to death! You know that?” Soren scolded in his classic brotherly tone, letting out a relieved sigh and approaching closer.</p><p>“I’m sorry Soren,” Rey called back. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just…” He wasn’t sure how to finish his sentence. How could he say that he left while Soren was asleep to offer himself to a human in his place when it was completely unnecessary.</p><p>Thankfully, Ashlynn stepped into the conversation. “He had some questions and wanted to make sure everyone was okay. Sorry. I should’ve made sure you were awake and knew he was out here. We didn’t mean to worry you.”</p><p>Soren nodded. “No, it’s okay. It just took me by surprise. That’s all. Um…” he glanced back toward the bedroom. “I want to make sure Dorian doesn’t wake up on his own. I should make it back. Rey, do you want to come with me?” Rey nodded eagerly and grabbed his rope to rappel down when Ashlynn once again stepped into the conversation.</p><p>“Do you need a hand?” she asked. The words left her mouth before she realized how that must sound to a person – a Borrower – like Soren. “I… I’m sorry. That’s not how I meant it. I just thought…” Soren chuckled and shook his head humorously.</p><p>“It’s okay,” dismissed Soren with a smile. He and Rey both turned to glance at one another. While they both seemed uncertain, the both also seemed to dislike the prospects of walking the whole way back and climbing back onto the bedside table. They were still comparatively exhausted and were trying to regain strength. Rey looked apprehensive and waited for Soren’s signal.</p><p>“I… think we’ll be…”</p><p>“Soren?” Rey chirped. “I… well… I’m still kinda tired…” Soren felt himself tense imperceptibly for a fraction of a moment but nodded.</p><p>“Well, Ashlynn, I think we’ll take you up on that offer, if that’s okay,” said Soren. Ashlynn nodded and stood carefully, crouching and offering an open hand to Soren. After a moment, he stepped forward and sat on the edges of her fingertips, allowing his legs to dangle.</p><p>Rey, eyes wide, took a few extra moments to collect himself before joining his eldest brother. Rey, shaking like a leaf in a windstorm, pressed himself once again into Soren’s shoulder tucked under his arm.</p><p>“We’re okay. We’re going to be okay,” Soren muttered as Ashlynn stepped carefully back to the bedside table. She set them down silently and watched them slip back onto the bed before she turned and walked away.</p><p>“What was that about?” asked Soren after Ashlynn had left the room. “You’re not usually the one going off on your own.” Rey sniffed, keeping his eyes averted.</p><p>“I… well… I thought that… she was keeping you and that you… may have made some kind of deal to let us go while you had to stay,” muttered Rey. Soren knew Rey was often quiet, but that did not stop his quick-thinking mind. Even for how young he was, he was still clever and very intuitive.</p><p>“So? Do you think she is?” asked Soren. Rey thought for a moment but shook his head.</p><p>“No,” he muttered. “She wants to prove herself. So, I think she’s probably one of the good humans.”</p><p>“I think so too,” echoed Soren. “I think, for what its worth, that she’ll do what she can to keep us safe.” They sat together in silence until Dorian began to stir. With two brothers convinced, they now had to wonder what Dorian was thinking about their friendly neighborhood host.</p>
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